The New Orleans Pelicans selected Jeremiah Fears out of Oklahoma with their 7th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday evening.
Prior to leaving Illinois, the Joliet native attended Joliet West where he played alongside his older brother and Michigan State guard, Jeremy Fears Jr.
He went on to AZ Compass Prep in Arizona for his junior year. Despite a January 2024 commitment to Illinois, he decided to reclassify into the 2024 class and sign with Oklahoma.
During his one season with the Sooners, he averaged 17.1 points on shooting splits of .434/.284/.851 with 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.6 steals in 30.2 minutes per game. He played in 34 games for Oklahoma including 31 starts.
He earned SEC All-Freshman honors for his performance.
Fears averaged 25.7 points on splits of .442/.381/.852 with five rebounds. 3.7 assists, 2.7 steals, and 2.7 turnovers in 34.7 minutes per game across the final three games of his freshman campaign.
Those games included two SEC Tournament games and the Sooners’ First Round game of March Madness. The defeated Georgia but would lose their final two games of the season to Kentucky and Connecticut.
The 18-year-old joins Antonio Reeves (Simeon) as former Illinois prep stars on the Pelicans roster. Reeves was taken by New Orleans in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft with the 47th pick after strong college years at Illinois State and Kentucky.
Fears joins Trae Young, Buddy Hield and Blake Griffin as the only four Oklahoma players to be selected in the top 10 in the last 20 years.
He also signed with Adidas ahead of the draft. He spoke with Nick DePaula about the signing, his love of the brand, and the excitement of what the relationship could become in the future.
“The relationship they have with their guys, and potentially having a signature shoe in the future was big,” Fears told DePaula.
Besides his older brother, Fear’s dad, Jeremy Sr., played at Ohio University and Bradley. He also has a young named Jamarri that plays at Joliet West.
Fears becomes the highest Illinois local to get drafted since the Philadelphia 76ers took Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young) with the third pick in 2015.
Fans can catch Fears on the court next month as he will return to the court as one of the newest members of the New Orleans Pelicans during NBA Summer League.
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