Jeremiah Fears arrived at Barclays Center on Wednesday evening sporting a crimson, patterned three-piece Gucci suit and matching tie.
It was the type of bespoke look the 18-year-old Fears would have worn to his high school prom at Joliet (Illinois) West High last month — that is, in an alternate reality in which the savvy point guard didn't reclassify from the 2025 class to enroll a year early at Oklahoma. Instead, it was Fears' outfit of choice for what proved to be the biggest night of his life to date — the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Fears, the star guard who led Oklahoma back to the NCAA Tournament in his lone college season, was selected seventh overall Wednesday night by the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the NBA Draft. It was the culmination of a bet the 6-foot-3 guard made on himself 11 months ago, when he committed to Oklahoma and reclassified to the 2024 class in order to jumpstart his path to the pros.
Fears is the first Sooner to be selected in the NBA Draft since Trae Young — the All-Star point guard for the Atlanta Hawks who also currently serves as Oklahoma's assistant general manager — was picked fifth overall in the 2018 draft. Fears is the 11th Oklahoma player all-time to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft and the fourth since 2009, joining Young, Buddy Hield (sixth overall in 2016) and Blake Griffin (No. 1 overall in 2009). Fears, the second-youngest player in this year's draft class, is also the third one-and-done player in Oklahoma history, joining Young and Griffin and sixth lottery pick in program history.
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Fears, who recently told ESPN's Andscape that he believes he is the best player in this year's class, was selected after Duke's Cooper Flagg (No. 1 overall to the Dallas Mavericks, Rutgers' Dylan Harper (No. 2 to the San Antonio Spurs), Baylor's VJ Edgecombe (No. 3 to the Philadelphia 76ers), Duke's Kon Knueppel (No. 4 overall to the Charlotte Hornets), Rutgers' Ace Bailey (No. 5 overall to the Utah Jazz), Texas' Tre Johnson (No. 6 overall to the Washington Wizards).
"His confidence (stands out)," Oklahoma guard Jadon Jones told Sooners Illustrated in March. "That kid is fearless. We all know he's very talented, very skilled. He'll be a great player for a long time. Some guys, they're kind of timid; their main goal is to not mess up. He wanted to take over from Day 1. He got in and came in fearless, attacking anyone."
And he means anyone.
After joining Oklahoma late last summer, Fears made an early impression on his new teammates by attempting to go toe-to-toe with Young, who was in town for one of his annual offseason open runs with the Sooners. That scrimmage set the stage for Fears' strong freshman season in Norman.
Fears started 31 of Oklahoma's 34 games this season, coming off the bench for the first three games of the season before cementing himself as the team's starting point guard. Fears finished the year leading Oklahoma in scoring (17.1 points per game), assists (4.1 per game) and steals (1.6 per game) while also finishing third on the team in rebounds (4.1 per game). He shot 43.4% from the floor — but just 28.4% from 3-point range — along with an 85.1% clip from the free-throw line while attempting more than six free throws per game and thriving as a paint-attacking lead guard. He was one of five freshmen in the country to lead his team in scoring, assists and steals last season.
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images, USA TODAY Sports)
Former Oklahoma assistant Armon Gates, who was pivotal in Fears' recruitment to OU, likened the Joliet, Ilinois, native to current Brooklyn Nets guard D'Angelo Russell, a one-time NBA All-Star and former All-Rookie honoree in 2016. Fears, for his part, said he has modeled his game after Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry and Anthony Edwards.
"He had that same type of aura about him," Gates told Sooners Illustrated ahead of the NCAA Tournament in March. "But Fears, right now he should be shopping for his tuxedo for his prom, so I still can't imagine him being D'Angelo Russell because he still has another year to develop and mature. His race to maturity has been on another level."
That race to maturity was a point of emphasis for Oklahoma coach Porter Moser when it came to the development of Fears. Moser had not been known for relying heavily on freshmen, but Fears became the exception while posting a 31.5% usage rate that was among the highest in the nation during the 2024-25 season.
Moser's faith in — and patience with — Fears throughout the season paid dividends for the guard and for the Sooners, who finished with their second consecutive 20-win season and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Moser's tenure with the program. Fears' freshman campaign at OU was among the best for a freshman in program history, as he ranked second among freshmen in school history in steals (56), made free throws (183) and free-throw attempts (215), fourth in points (581), fifth in points per game (17.1) and assists (140), and finished sixth in field goals made (180) and starts (31). Fears was one of only three Power 4 players to average at least 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and 1.4 steals per game for the year, joining fellow standout freshman Flagg (the only player in the draft younger than Fears) and West Virginia senior Javon Small.
"I look back on just his youthfulness when he got here, not having played at this level, and then just how he grew and grew and grew," Moser said after Oklahoma's season ended in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. "Then I look at when the start of the SEC, it seemed like everyone tried to come for his head. I look at his growth through that, fighting through hard. It was hard the way he started off. It wasn't easy for him, and he fought through that by getting in the gym more, watching more film, being coached. He's just so not entitled. I can't tell you how much was thrown his way for a young man, and he's so not entitled.
"He's such a great teammate, and he was a joy to coach and watch his growth — especially in an older league like this. It's one thing to reclassify, but then you're going into the SEC with a lot of older guards. His learning curve, he just really got better all year."
And Fears is still just scratching the surface of his potential, given his age and his perceived upside. Now he'll have the chance to show just how good he can become with the Pelicans.
"The team is getting a point guard that has leadership, great qualities as a point guard, great qualities as a person as well off the court, and somebody that's going to go out there and compete every time he steps on the court, no matter who he's playing against," Fears said on ESPN.