Joliet native Jeremiah Fears was selected No. 7 in the 2025 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. It’s the highest a local player has been picked since Young’s Jahlil Okafor was drafted by Philadelphia with the No. 3 pick in 2015.
Fears didn’t receive the early attention from national evaluators that some players enjoy. Despite his older brother Jeremy Fears Jr.’s rise to national prominence, Jeremiah went under the radar all the way while skipping his senior year of high school and heading to college at Oklahoma.
But the locals always knew. The Sun-Times was there for Jeremiah Fears’ high school debut in Washington, IL. Joliet West lost to St. Louis Vashon 61-59. The Tigers started four more experienced players but it was Fears who took the game-tying three at the buzzer. He missed that crucial shot but finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four steals.
“He exudes confidence and toughness,” Tigers coach Jeremy Kreiger said after the game. “He led us in scoring in his first high school game. He embraced stepping up to take the game-winner and then came into the locker room and apologized to his teammates for missing it.”
Fears left Joliet West after his sophomore season and was off to prep school, playing one year at Compass in Arizona. Initially, the plan was to finish high school and head to Illinois for the 2025-26 season. That changed in July when Fears decommitted from the Illini, reclassified to the Class of 2025 and committed to Oklahoma. Fears was only rated as a four-star recruit out of Compass. Rivals had him 44th in the country, 247Sports 64th and ESPN 40th.
Fears came off the bench his first few games at Oklahoma this past season but quickly emerged as one of the best players in the country. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, shot 43% from the field and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Fears was a dangerous shooter throughout his two years at Joliet West. His three-pointer has been up and down since high school, but he’s grown to 6-4 and shot well at the NBA Draft Combine a few weeks ago.
He signed a shoe endorsement deal with Adidas just before the draft on Wednesday.
Only three Joliet natives have played in the NBA: George Mikan, Ed Mikan and Roger Powell Jr. George Mikan, one of the most notable players in history, led the NBA in scoring from 1949 to 1951, won multiple championships and changed the sport. Ed Mikan, his brother, was in the league from 1948 to 1954.
Powell, now the head coach at Valparaiso, played 13 minutes in three games for the Jazz in 2006.
