REPORT: Kentucky decommit their top rated star for shocking reason
Kentucky still has one scholarship remaining for 2024 and are still in the market to use it. On Monday, the Wildcats reached out to Phoenix (Ariz.) AZ Compass Prep 4-star combo guard and former Illinois commit Jeremiah Fears. “Just got a call from the Kentucky Wildcats,” Fears wrote on social media. Fears just announced he would be reopening his recruitment after being committed to the Illini since January, when he chose Illinois over Arizona, Creighton, Florida State, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Providence, and Tennessee among others.
Fears (6-3, 175), who is currently ranked as the No. 33 overall prospect in the 2025 class by the industry average 247Sports Composite, has been linked to reclassifying to 2024 and enrolling at a school for the 2024–25 season. “Please trust my full intention was to enter Champaign in the class of 2025 and help contribute to the continued ascension BIG10,” Fears wrote on social media. “With that being said, after further consideration and meaningful conversations with my family, I’ll be reopening my recruitment and exploring other opportunities.”
Fears is averaging 17.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while playing for the Indy Heat in the Nike EYBL this travel season. Fears also averaged 6.5 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds for the USA team that won the gold medal at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month—an event that was observed by Mark Pope, the new coach at Kentucky, who had previously stated that Fears’ 13th and final scholarship would be a floating piece.
“It’s still the same,” the Pope stated last week. “I think we had a pretty good feel of where we were a couple weeks ago, and it’s just been confirmed more than anything else. There could be a hundred different reasons why a 13th scholarship would fit. We’re still kind of floating with it and we’ll see. We’ll spend a ton of time this summer out on the road including some international things. There’s always unique things that happen there late. And there’s also interesting things that always happen late in the States. So, we’ll kind of play it by ear.”
Fears, the younger brother of Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears, plays a completely different style of basketball, according to the 247Sports Scouting Report. He is a composed and self-assured scorer who has no trouble creating his own offense when the game is in progress. Fears is a versatile guard that prioritizes scoring points. He performs best in a supporting ball-handling role where he can concentrate mostly on making shots and creating for himself off the bounce.
Though Fears can be a little loose with the ball through traffic, his ability to make shots makes him a player that needs to be accounted for at all times. He has all the necessary components to be a reliable scoring option at the power conference level. He is talented with the ball in his hands and has a creative enough handle to break defenders down to get to his pull-up game.