The Michigan State Spartans men’s basketball program is reeling. The Spartans were thoroughly outclassed by their bitter rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, on their home floor on Friday, and were looking to bounce back.
Instead, Michigan State was upset by the Minnesota Gophers. To make matters worse, guard Jeremy Fears Jr. turned the program into the laughing stock of the country with his antics, after being called out by Michigan head coach Dusty May for his actions on Monday.
One of Fears’ “escapades” earned him a technical foul, and his head coach is considering benching him after all of the foolishness.
“I don’t even know if I’m going to start him the next game,” Izzo said after the loss to the Gophers dropped his team to fourth place in the Big Ten standings, according to ESPN.
Izzo thinks that May’s callout may have resulted in Fears being officiated more sensitively, but feels that his point guard only has himself to blame.
“When somebody comes out and publicly says something about a guy, that sometimes happens, but that’s Jeremy’s fault,” Izzo said. “I made sure I cleared all that up. I think the officials knew it. I talked to them. I did not see what happened on the play.
“I saw him get pushed, and I saw his leg come up, and I didn’t think he hit anybody, but if he did, then he deserves it, I guess. But if he didn’t, I questioned it. So are they baiting him? Well, of course. And it’s his fault.”
It’ll be interesting to see if these losses end up being what derailed what was once a promising start to the season for a program desperate for success in March.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.