As expected, Jeremiah Fears said goodbye to college basketball and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Fears, OU men's basketball's outstanding freshman point guard, announced Wednesday on the "Paul Finebaum Show" that he plans to enter the 2025 NBA Draft after just one season in Norman. This was no surprise considering Fears' draft stock and that he's already hinted at this decision.
Jeremiah Fears officially announced he's entering the NBA Draft
.@OU_MBBall freshman guard Jeremiah Fears (@jeremiahfears2), No. 7 prospect in ESPN's NBA draft projections, will enter the 2025 NBA draft. pic.twitter.com/kDn6tiEDGW
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) April 2, 2025
After the announcement on TV, Fears also shared on his Instagram his appreciation for Sooner Nation and publicly said his goodbyes.
"This year has been an incredible journey, and I am grateful for all the love and support I have received from the OU fan base," Fears wrote. "I want to express my gratitude to Coach (Porter) Moser and the entire coaching staff, who believed in me and allowed me to showcase my abilities at the University of Oklahoma."
Fears also went on to specifically thank his teammates and family before stating his intentions to declare for the NBA Draft.
#OU guard Jeremiah Fears announces he’s entering the NBA Draft. pic.twitter.com/VAIU5WZtNq
— Bob Przybylo (@BPrzybylo) April 2, 2025
As ESPN's No. 7 NBA Draft prospect, Fears is a projected top-15 pick according to most experts and mock drafts. He has a ton of upside at just 18 years old since Fears should just now be finishing up his time in high school. He reclassified from the 2026 class to 2025 last summer before heading to OU.
That makes Fears one of the youngest players in the draft class, and he'll turn 19 only days before his first NBA regular season tips off in October.
As a young freshman, Fears still led the Sooners in scoring with 17.1 points a game while helping propell the Sooners to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years. He also averaged 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists, and only 3.4 turnovers while handling the ball. His efforts were good enough to be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
In his final college basketball game, Fears showed out with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and only two turnovers despite the Sooners loss to the UConn Huskies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Until the NBA Draft on June 25, Fears said on the "Paul Finebaum Show" that he will train in New York City with his agent and former NBA player Mike Miller. The NBA Draft Combine will be on May 11-18 in Chicago.