Once upon a time, Jeremiah Fears was a top-30 recruit in the class of 2025, set to play for Brad Underwood at Illinois next season. Then he reopened his recruitment and emerged as a serious reclassification candidate, Peach Jam in July seen as an audition of sorts for new suitors to slide in and snag him as a late addition for the 2024-25 season.
Kentucky, still with one open scholarship at the time, was among the early schools to reach out. The four-star guard actually announced on social media he had received a phone call from the Wildcats, joining the likes of Oklahoma, Providence, Oklahoma State and Arizona State ‘prioritizing me’ in the late stages of the process, he told KSR at the time.
We’ve built a pretty good relationship from the time I decommitted,” Fears said of Kentucky. “It’s a good program, I watched them a lot growing up. I like their facilities — they’re off the charts — and the fans and their environment.”
Then came a quick commitment to Oklahoma, a big-time win for Porter Moser and his staff in Norman. Little did they know at the time, but Fears would go on to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors as a star in the league, emerging as a one-and-done talent and likely lottery selection.
Fast forward to March and Fears is now priority No. 1 on Kentucky’s scouting report as the Wildcats prepare to take on the Sooners in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Quite the full-circle moment for the star guard averaging 16.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in his lone season of college basketball — target to foe.
“It went great,” Fears told KSR of his previous conversations with Kentucky as a recruit. “I just felt like it wasn’t the right situation for me.”
To his credit, it wasn’t the right situation for the former four-star prospect. At the time, there was speculation Fears was looking for an expanded starting role with the ultimate green light on shots and touches in college. For Kentucky, Mark Pope’s 12-man roster had already gone through a month of summer workouts and there was growing confidence the Wildcats liked their core group as currently constructed — no room for anything beyond a complementary depth piece comfortable with spot minutes.
