Kentucky has one available scholarship remaining for the 2024-25 season and Mark Pope has been very disciplined and open about how he wants to use it.
At the moment, he's 100 percent okay with heading into the season with 12 players on his roster. In fact, he needs to find the perfect fit in order to add to his current roster.
On Monday, a new name popped up on the recruiting radar -- a four-star guard who just recently decommitted from Illinois.
Jeremiah Fears announced the contact with Kentucky on Monday evening, a phone call from the coaching staff.
Fears is a top-35 prospect in the 2025 class who had offers from Illinois, Tennessee, Arizona, Creighton, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Providence and numerous others. He eventually chose the Illini but then shook things up this week.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank the Illini nation for all the love and support they have given me and my family during my recruitment and after my commitment,” Fears announced. “I’d like to express my appreciation to Coach Underwood and his staff for their open communication and trust in me as a prospective next great guard to perform at State Farm Center. Please trust my full intention was to enter Champaign in the class of 2025 and help contribute to the continued ascension in the Big 10.
“With that being said, after further consideration and meaningful conversations with my family, I’ll be reopening my recruitment and exploring other opportunities.”
The 6-foot-3 point guard, while not officially announcing it, is strongly considering a reclass to the 2024 class. If so, Kentucky could be in play -- albeit potentially a long shot with the amount of guards and upperclassmen on the roster.
Fears was part of the U18 USA Basketball roster that won Gold at the FIBA AmeriCup earlier this month. He averaged 6.5 points and 3.0 assists per game. Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was in attendence for some of the games.
Time will tell what Fears ends up doing, but he's a name to at least keep an eye on with Kentucky's interest high enough to reach out.