Michigan
As Jeremy Fears recovers, Michigan State basketball explores medical redshirt for freshman
EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo stopped short of saying Jeremy Fears Jr. is done for the rest of the season.
However, the Michigan State basketball coach Monday gave a glimpse of what is ahead in the coming months as his freshman recovers from a December gunshot wound to his left leg.
“There’s some guys that are quick healers and some guys that aren’t quick healers,” Izzo said during his weekly news conference. “He is a tremendously quick healer. … Does that mean he’s gonna play this year? No. But does that mean that he’s really getting better and will have a spring and summer to get well on and improve his skills? Yes.”
Fears was shot Dec. 23 in his hometown of Joliet, Illinois, while on Christmas break, a little more than 24 hours after MSU’s win over Stony Brook in which he had a career-high 10 assists in the 99-55 win.
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There remains no timeline for Fears to return to full basketball activities. Izzo said the 6-foot-2, 190-pound point guard has resumed doing some on-court shooting continues to exercise on an underwater treadmill. He has been walking without crutches since January.
Izzo said MSU plans to seek a redshirt season for Fears, which might require an NCAA petition after he played in the Spartans’ first 12 games this season. Fears averaged 3.5 points, 3.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds over with 10 steals 15.3 minutes per game before being shot.
Paperwork for a potential medical redshirt cannot be submitted until after a season is complete. According to the NCAA, a basketball player must meet three conditions to be granted hardship waiver for “an incapacity resulting from an injury or illness.” They cannot have participated in more than 30% of their team’s games, the injury/illness must be season-ending and verified, and the injury/illness must have occurred “prior to the completion of the first half of the playing season.”
“We’re gonna try to do that,” Izzo said about a potential redshirt for Fears, who turns 19 on April 19. “I don’t know if he’ll ever use it or need it. I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future. … His circumstances are more than deserving of that, and yet I’m definitely not politicking right now. I’m just saying I think we’re in a time when there are no rules, but the only time the rules seem to come up is when the rules probably aren’t fair. I mean, here’s a case where a kid deserves to be looked at. And we’ll do that.”
Izzo called Fears “a unique kid” who has remained active on the bench and during MSU’s timeouts and halftime meetings, as well as during the week at practice.
“He’s always got something to say that’s right on,” Izzo said. “And I appreciate that about him.”
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Senior point guard A.J. Hoggard said Fears’ recovery has made a positive impact on his teammates as well.
“Just the way he came back, he wasn’t really walking the same a little bit. So to see him light jogging and being able to jump up and down a little bit, it’s definitely big,” Hoggard said. “And it shows that he’s on his way back. He’s gonna be really healthy and ready to go, probably within another month or so. So it’s definitely big to see him get back to doing what he loves to do and just kind of being more a part of the team and not just sitting on the sidelines as much as he was.”
MSU (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) is 10-4 since Fears went out. The Spartans, on a three-game win streak that pulled them into a three-way tie for third place in the league with Wisconsin and Northwestern, host Iowa at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Their lone regular-season game with the Hawkeyes (15-11, 7-8) will not be televised but will be streamed on Peacock.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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Two more weekends remain for colleges to host recruits for official visits.
Michigan State had bigger groups on campus for the first two weekends, so this week’s list is not as large in quantity.
Roswell (Georgia) Blessed Trinity Catholic defensive back Noah Willis will be making his first trip to East Lansing. Willis was only offered by the Spartans in mid-May, but they quickly found a home on his official visit schedule.
The 6-foot, 170-pound Willis can play outside corner or slot corner. Kansas State and Cincinnati already have hosted him, and he has BYU scheduled for the weekend of June 19.
Logansport (Indiana) offensive tackle RJ Clem also will be on campus for the first time. Spartans offensive line coach Nick Tabacca offered in May.
A 6-foot-7, 265-pound prospect, Clem is also a state qualifier in discus and plays basketball. Wake Forest will get an official next weekend. Kansas State and Iowa State also have offered.
Michigan State commit Grant Adloff, a three-star offensive lineman from East Grand Rapids, also will be on campus for his official.
In-state targets nearing decisions
The name to watch for Spartan fans this week is Detroit King’s Don Spillers. A two-way athlete, Michigan State is recruiting the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Spillers as a safety while Illinois, his other finalist, is recruiting him as a wide receiver.
Spillers is expected to make a decision by this weekend. Michigan State has led his Rivals predictions for much of his recruitment, but last weekend’s official visit with Illinois have made the Illini a very real threat to those predictions.
Spillers’ teammate, offensive lineman Jameer Henry, also is believed to be nearing a decision. Henry (6-5, 300 pounds) also is considering Illinois. Missouri was considered the primary competition, but the Tigers have faded in the race.
First summer camp brings talent from all classes
Michigan State hosted their first one-day camp of the summer on June 9.
No offers were extended at the camp, but there were many potential future offers within the group.
Toledo Central Catholic’s David Yharbrough and Troy Yharbrough were two of the standouts. David Yharbrough is a rising junior receiver while Troy Yharbrough is only an incoming freshman, but already looks like a national recruit with several programs offering already.
In-state cornerbacks Jacob Patton and Wendell Childs impressed. Patton (Detroit Country Day) is a 2028 recruit with an offer from Wisconsin. Childs (Clarkston) is a 2027 with track speed. The Spartans are down the road in their 2027 recruiting, but Childs made a play to be considered.
The NFL Academy, a boarding school in the United Kingdom brought several of their top prospects as part of their stateside college tour. That included 6-foot-8, 310-pound offensive tackle Adam Ibironke, a class of 2028 recruit.
Tabor (Massachusetts) Academy wide receiver Xander Odenyo, a multi-offer prospect also stood out in one-on-one work.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central quarterback Odin Spencer, along with wide receivers Grayson Tidd and Jace Cummings, were also among the camp’s top performers.
Spartan defensive line commit Jack Schuler also took part in the camp.
Allen Trieu covers Midwest football recruiting for On3. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.
The Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a conviction against a man in connection with the 2020 plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Joseph Morrison was found guilty and sentenced in 2022 after prosecutors argued that he provided material support for a terroristic act as a member of the Wolverine Watchmen. Morrison, as well as Pete Musico and Paul Bellar, were accused of holding gun drills in Jackson County with Adam Fox, who played a key role in the plot.
Fox and co-leader Barry Croft Jr. were convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
On Tuesday, the court reversed Morrison’s conviction in a 3-0 ruling, stating that kidnapping is not an underlying violent felony that supports a conviction under the state’s terrorism law.
Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel called the ruling “completely and irredeemably nonsensical, outrageous and irresponsible” and vowed to appeal the decision.
“This wasn’t an abstract or peaceful kidnapping case. The evidence presented at trial explicitly proved a considered and coordinated plan among these men to kidnap and brutally murder the Governor, killing as many members of law enforcement and residents of the community as necessary along the way. Kidnapping is violent and it is a felony,” Nessel said.
The Democratic governor was never physically harmed. Undercover FBI agents and informants were inside Fox’s group for months, and the scheme was broken up with 14 arrests in October 2020.
The overall investigation produced mixed results for state and federal prosecutors. Five of the 14 men were acquitted at trial. In September 2023, a jury acquitted three men, twin brothers William and Michael Null, and Eric Molitor. The men were found not guilty of providing support for a terrorist act and a weapon charge. They were the last of 14 men to face charges in state or federal court. Nine were convicted and now five have been cleared.
How to register to vote in Michigan: Step-by-step guide
Registering to vote in Michigan is simple and can be done online, by mail, or in person, depending on how close you are to Election Day.
PORT HURON, MI — A Port Huron artist is among 90 finalists in Michigan’s 2026 “I Voted” sticker contest, with her design now in the running to be distributed to voters across the state in November.
Sydney Reed, a 22-year-old Port Huron resident and Marysville High School graduate, advanced to public voting after submitting her “Pure Michigan” design to the Michigan Department of State.
Her design features a Michigan sunset, a Kirtland’s warbler perched on an apple blossom branch and the Mackinac Bridge in the background.
“I’ve always been the artsy child in the family,” Reed said.
The Michigan Department of State received 2,095 submissions this year — more than four times the number submitted during the contest’s inaugural run in 2024. Members of the Michigan Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force selected the finalists before public voting opened June 1.
A review of the Department of State’s voting forms shows Reed’s design is the only finalist from St. Clair County among the 90 entries.
Reed said she nearly passed on the opportunity to enter.
Although she first learned about the contest on Instagram, she said her boyfriend, Kevin Adriaens of Clarkston, encouraged her to create a design and submit it.
“I was actually quite hesitant about designing a sticker,” Reed said.
Art has long been a central part of Reed’s life. She describes herself as largely self-taught but said she also received guidance from family friend Ann Marie Morgan of St. Clair.
While attending Marysville High School, Reed took Advanced Placement art classes, exhibited work at showcases at St. Clair County Community College and earned a Silver Key award through the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Reed credits former Marysville art teacher Joanie Kernohan with helping shape her development as an artist.
“I spent hours in her classroom after school working on my projects and just getting to know my teacher,” Reed said. “She mentored me so much and has made me a better artist.”
Reed collaborated on several murals at Marysville High School, creating pieces that promote kindness, encouragement and positive mental health messages.
Today, Reed attends St. Clair County Community College and works in the records department at the Port Huron Police Department. She plans to continue her education at Oakland University, where she hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
As voting continues, Reed said she hopes her design highlights both Michigan’s natural beauty and the creativity found in the Blue Water Area.
“As a Michigander, our state’s beauty is something I wanted to showcase,” Reed said.
Public voting in the Michigan Department of State’s “I Voted” sticker contest runs through June 30, with voters allowed to select up to three designs in each category. Winners will be announced later this summer, and the winning designs will be available to local clerks for distribution during the November 2026 election.
Contact reporter Andy Jeffrey at ajeffrey@usatodayco.com.
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