College basketball season is still many moons away, so while fans sit and wait—watching highlights from previous seasons, incoming recruits, or portal additions—the mind starts to wander.
When that happens, as is the case for many sports fans, lists start to form. Then, after being typed out a few times, those lists eventually find their way to the internet. There, you’ll find a long line of criticism, trolls, a few quality counterpoints, and, if you’re lucky, one or two comments agreeing with you.
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But sports aren’t here to end all wars. In fact, there are times when it seems like a simple sports debate or ranking can start another one.
Recently, a few lists have circulated across social media with drastically different opinions on who the top returning players in college basketball are.
Instead of dissecting every fan-made ranking created to drive engagement, I’ll admit that they accomplished exactly what they set out to do. They threw the hook into the water, and like a pike swimming in Vineyard Lake, I bit. I grabbed onto that hook so deep you’d need pliers to pull it out of my throat.
It all started when Michael Cohen, a college football and college basketball writer for FOX Sports and executive producer of A Deadly Football Hit on HBO Max, posted his list of the top 10 returning players in college basketball.
Cohen made a daring choice by placing Michigan’s Elliot Cadeau at No. 1 among all returning players in the sport. That’s certainly a bold take, but rankings are subjective and everyone is entitled to their opinion.
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As I continued reading through the list, the names kept stacking up until I reached No. 10, where Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears appeared.
So who in the world is so out of tune with college basketball that they believe Fears is only the 10th-best returning player in the country?
Then it clicked.
Cohen previously worked as the University of Michigan football and men’s basketball beat writer for the Detroit Free Press.
Suddenly, everything became crystal clear.
Of course, that’s a tongue-in-cheek observation, but it certainly felt like a list designed to spark conversation, generate clicks, and keep people talking. After all, for some, all press is good press.
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That sent me down the rabbit hole.
I started digging through other rankings.
To no surprise at all, almost every ranking I found had Fears near the top—if not at the very top—while Cadeau was often outside the top 10 entirely.
Now, I genuinely like Cadeau. I like who he is on and off the court, the way he plays the game, and the way he sees the floor. So make no mistake, this is not a slander piece directed at Cadeau.
Rather, it’s reassurance for anyone second-guessing themselves after seeing Coen’s list.
Cadeau is a very good player, but he’s not a top-5 returning player in college basketball. Jeremy Fears, meanwhile, has a legitimate argument to be the No. 1 returning player in the country.
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The ‘Field of 68’ X account ranked Fears as the third-best returning player in college basketball while placing Cadeau 10th. ‘College Basketball Report’ account released a ranking of the top 60 players entering the season and had Fears at No. 1, while Cadeau checked in at No. 22.
The facts are the facts.
Fears is going to be one of the most talked-about players in college basketball this season. He’s expected to be one of the top prospects in next year’s NBA Draft, and he’ll once again serve as the floor general for Tom Izzo’s Spartans.
Whether you believe he’s the best returning player in college basketball or merely one of the top few, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find credible rankings that don’t place him near the very top.
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So where would you rank Jeremy Fears and Elliot Cadeau among all returning players entering the 2026-27 season?
