MSU's Jeremy Fears Jr. named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year

Many are expecting big things from Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr. this season.

That includes a media panel that chose Fears as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, the conference announced Monday, Oct. 5.

Fears headlines the preseason All-Big Ten team, which features 11 players due to a tie in voting, and was one of two unanimous selections, along with Nebraska’s Pryce Sandfort.

Michigan guards Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney were also named to the preseason team, with the Wolverines being of two programs with multiple selections. The other was Illinois, with David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic being selected.

The preseason team is rounded out by Maryland’s Pharrel Payne, Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr., UCLA’s Trent Perry, USC’s Rodney Rice and Wisconsin’s Nolan Winter.

Michigan State can do ‘something special’ with Jeremy Fears return

It’s no surprise that the expectations are high for Fears heading into his redshirt junior season. He’s coming off a breakout campaign where he averaged a career-best 15.2 points and a nation-leading 9.4 assists and earned All-American honors last season. Along the way, he set program records for assists in a season (328) and assists in an NCAA Tournament game (16) while leading the Spartans to a 27-8 record and the Sweet 16.

Fears was also the runaway choice for the conference’s preseason player of the year in an unofficial media poll that’s organized by The Columbus Dispatch and was released Oct. 5. He received 23 of 28 votes.

See where MSU, UM rank in Big Ten men’s basketball preseason media poll

Cadeau and McKenney played a role in helping the Wolverines capture the Big Ten regular-season title, bring home the program’s second national title and finish 37-3 last season. Cadeau averaged a career-high 10.5 points with 5.9 assists, delivered throughout the postseason and was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. McKenney averaged 9.9 points off the bench as a freshman and made a team-high 68 3-pointers, including the dagger against UConn in the national title game.

On the women’s side, Michigan guards Olivia Olson and Syla Swords earned a spot on the preseason team. Olson was a unanimous choice along with USC’s JuJu Watkins, who was tabbed preseason player of the year by both the coaches and media. Last season as sophomores, Olson (18.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists) and Swords (14.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists) earned All-Big Ten first-team honors while powering the Wolverines to the Elite Eight.

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

@jamesbhawkins

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU’s Jeremy Fears Jr. named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year