To be honest, we all knew it was going to be Cooper Flagg officially hearing his name called as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Mavs, followed by the Spurs selecting Rutgers guard Dylan Harper. It was already predicted by analysts before, but the interesting part of the draft came with the rest of the lottery. That’s because each selection was a domino that impacted the next several picks, and caught in the mayhem was Jeremiah Fears.
While Fears was projected to be the No. 5 overall pick in the NBA Draft, he was selected at No. 7 overall, as the ones projected below him—Ace Bailey and Tre Johnson—were picked ahead of him. But that doesn’t take away from him being the highest local player picked since Young’s Jahlil Okafor was drafted by Philadelphia with the No. 3 pick in 2015. Honestly, we already knew it was going to happen.
It all goes back to his performance for Oklahoma against Kentucky, where he stunned the commentators, especially Stephen A. Smith, who couldn’t help but react and compare his performance to one of the greats. “Jeremiah Fears is the next Kyrie Irving,” he declared.
Stephen A. Smith on Jeremiah Fears: “He’s the second coming of Kyrie Irving.”
(via @Frankie_Vision)
pic.twitter.com/ZP7a9r5r9b
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 26, 2025
And that comparison seemed apt, as Fears dropped 28 points on 10-of-22 shooting, dished out 5 assists, and recorded 3 steals. “Fears, pretty—you talk about scorers, he’s one of the men,” the commentators echoed as he danced past defenders with a craftiness reminiscent of Kyrie’s early Duke days.
This is a developing story…
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