'Jeremiah Special': Oklahoma G Jeremiah Fears Reflects on Game-Winning 4, Undefeated Start

Fears, who hit the game-winning 4 to beat Michigan, leads the Sooners in points, assists and steals per game.

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Jeremiah Fears’ demeanor didn’t match his last name in the final stretch of Oklahoma’s 87-86 win against Michigan on Wednesday.

With the Sooners trailing by three with just 23.3 seconds remaining in their Jumpman Invitational game with the Wolverines, Fears and four of his teammates walked back onto the court after a timeout. A freshman guard, Fears was ready to take any role asked of him — and in this case, he expected that to be a background role.

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser drew up a play where Fears dribbled behind the 3-point line and passed to Sam Godwin while Glenn Taylor Jr. set a screen for Brycen Goodine.

The Sooners went through with that play, but Goodine didn’t have the open look. Instead, Goodine fed it back to Godwin, who passed to an off-balance Fears behind the 3-point line.

JEREMIAH FEARS FOUR-POINT PLAY 😱

No. 14 Oklahoma hangs on to remain undefeated! pic.twitter.com/FeMgDIIYJW

— ESPN (@espn) December 19, 2024

Fears drew contact as he threw what may have seemed like a desperation heave toward the basket. The shot swished, and Oklahoma’s bench erupted into bedlam.

“Coach said if they deny him, come back to the ball and make a play,” Fears told Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry on 107.7 The Franchise’s postgame broadcast. “I think I did a great job of that and helped my team come away with a win tonight.”

The freshman made his ensuing free throw to secure the go-ahead 4-point play. Michigan couldn’t answer on its last-ditch effort, allowing Oklahoma to leave Charlotte with a one-point win and an 11-0 record.

“How about that one?” Moser said on the postgame broadcast. “The bottom line is the resiliency of our group.”

Fears’ heroics weren’t limited to the final minute in the Michigan game.

The freshman led Oklahoma with 30 points. Of those, 20 came in the second half, as Fears helped the Sooners overcome two separate 11-point Michigan leads.

Fears also notched three rebounds, four assists and a steal while shooting 66.7 percent from the field.

“(It was the) Jeremiah Special,” Moser said. “He’s a humble kid. He’s giving glory to his teammates and God. I’m happy for him.”

OU Basketball: Jeremiah Fears Hits Game-Winning 4 as Oklahoma Rallies to Beat Michigan

Wednesday’s and-one game-winner is one that will be played on Oklahoma hype videos for years to come. But it’s only a fraction of Fears’ freshman frenzy.

Fears is averaging 17.9 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. 

His point, assist and steal averages each lead Oklahoma. Fears is in the top 100 players in the nation in both points and assists per game.

“He’s working at it,” Moser said. “He’s getting better and better, and tonight, he was really, really elite in a bunch of different areas.”

Oklahoma’s undefeated start has been far from a one-man show. Players like Godwin, Taylor, Kobe Elvis, Jalon Moore, Duke Miles and others have broken out at different parts of the season, allowing the Sooners to beat six teams from power conferences in their first 11 games.

But with conference play looming in a stacked SEC — eight teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 — Fears knows that he and his teammates will have to show the same fight that they displayed on Wednesday.

“We just continued to fight throughout the game,” Fears said. “They threw punches, they went on a lot of runs, and I think we just stuck together and came out on top.”