Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears says he's grateful to play with Spartans in Spain after being shot

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears is joining the team for an upcoming overseas trip and plans to play for Tom Izzo for the first time since he was shot last winter.

“Grateful for this opportunity to get to play some scrimmage games, and just being able to play again,” Fears said Tuesday after practicing with the team. “Who knows what could have happened? But I’m still able to play at 99 percent, back with my team, back at the program that I love. I can’t really complain.”

Izzo said the redshirt freshman is close to 100-percent after seeing him in recent practices, preparing to leave next week for three scrimmages in Spain.

“The last 1 percent would be just getting back to playing basketball every day,” Fears said. “Obviously I didn’t play for seven months.”

A five-star recruit from Joliet West High School in Illinois, Fears was shot in the leg last Dec. 23 while on holiday break in his hometown and endured a 3-hour surgery to remove the bullet from his left thigh. Investigators believe the victims — an unidentifed woman — were inside the residence along with others when a male suspect armed with a handgun entered through the front door and opened fire before fleeing.

Fears acknowledged a lot has changed since he stepped on campus a year ago.

“I'm stronger, mentally and physically, on the court and in life," he said. “Nothing can really stop you, but you. As long as I keep pushing and keep moving forward every day, it will get better.”

Fears was granted a redshirt, giving him four more seasons of eligibility after he was limited to 12 games last season. He avearged 3.5 points and 3.3 assists in 15-plus minutes, and had a season-high 10 assists in a win over Stony Brook two days before he was shot.

___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball