BB RECRUITING

Where does Coen Carr rank amongst other legendary MSU rim rockers?

Coen Carr is special.

Published

1 month ago

May 7, 2023

Tyler Dutton

Incoming four-star Coen Carr is known for his athleticism and rim-rocking dunks. But where does he stand against other MSU dunking greats?

It’s no secret that incoming freshman Coen Carr is immensely talented and the best athlete in the 2023 recruiting class. Currently, Carr sits as a four-star, the 24th-ranked player via ESPN. This ranking is slightly higher than in previous months, as he was previously well below fellow Spartan commit Jeremy Fears.

Carr’s recent jump is due to his elevated level of play over the last month. His playmaking has begun to catch up to his incredible athletic ability. His performance in the Iverson Classic was a great showcase of how he has improved his game all around over the last few weeks, finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds.

With that being said, Carr is still known for his high-flying, vicious dunks. After winning yet another dunk contest, Carr has clearly found his calling card. He may produce countless highlight reels punishing rims, but where does he rank amongst Michigan State’s all-time high flyers?

Let’s take a look back at some other high-flyers from Tom Izzo’s time at the helm.

But first, some Coen Carr highlights.

Incredible stuff

Jason Richardson, G, 6-foot-6 (2000-01)

As a part of MSU’s last national championship team, Jason Richardson was one of the first to electrify the crowd during the Izzo era with a high-flying dunk. Often lauded as Michigan’s best high school dunker ever, Richardson was dunking at just 14 years old. He is quoted as saying “I wanted to rip the rim off every time I dunked.” His passion for sending fans into a craze with a dunk didn’t stop back in Saginaw as Richardson continued living above the rim in East Lansing.

During his expedited stay at MSU, Richardson compiled an extremely impressive highlight reel, eventually moving on to the NBA and becoming a two-time NBA Dunk Champion.

As a side note, Richardson’s son, Jase Richardson (a 2024 target for Tom Izzo), recently proved he got much of his dad’s jumping abilities as he delivered a hard ‘and-one’ dunk at EYBL Session 2.

Shannon Brown, G, 6-foot-4 (2004-05)

Out of Chicago, Shannon Brown is one of the highest-ranking recruits for Izzo. Brown was the third-best player in 2003, only trailing Lebron James and Luol Deng. While it took some time for Brown’s offense to catch up to his athletic ability (not unlike what I expected from Coen Carr), Brown eventually would become a major piece for Izzo and the Spartans.

As far as flying through the air to get fans in the Breslin out of their seats, Brown took over where Richardson left off. Winning the high school dunk contest, Brown continued his violent approach at the rim for the green and white. He would amass a large list of players he posterized over his three seasons at MSU. When Shannon was on the move through the lane, business decisions by the defense had to be made to either attempt a block or save face and simply get out of the way.

Miles Bridges, G/F, 6-foot-7 (2016-17)

Back in 2016, Miles Bridges took over Twitter with his dunking highlights similar to that of Carr. Bridges was a better all-around player at his time of recruitment than Carr, but both showed no remorse for their fellow high school opponents.

Back in 2015 at the Nike Global Challenge, Bridges threw down an in-game windmill dunk off the backboard that nearly stopped the game. His game style did not change once he began playing for Izzo and the Spartans. Bridges constantly found himself cutting back door to be on the receiving end of a vicious alley-oop. Call it recency bias, but Bridges is one of the best dunkers of the Tom Izzo era.

Will Carr join the like of these Spartan dunking legends? Only time will tell but based on what we’ve seen so far, Michigan State better reinforce the rims at the Breslin, because Carr is comin’.

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BB RECRUITING

Xavier Booker “relentless” in recruiting 4-star guard Jase Richardson

The incoming freshman wants Jase Richardson to join him in 2024.

Published

1 day ago

June 5, 2023

Connor Muldowney

Michigan State freshman and five-star Xavier Booker has been “relentless” in his pursuit of Jase Richardson.

With all of the 2023 class freshmen arriving on campus, it feels only right that Michigan State fans look ahead to the 2024 class.

Tom Izzo just landed arguably his best class ever, headlined by Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr, and Gehrig Normand. He’s now aiming to land an equally impressive 2024 class that currently has four-stars Jesse McCulloch and Kur Teng committed.

One of the top targets left on the board is a legacy recruit: Jase Richardson.

The son of Spartan legend and NBA star Jason Richardson has spoken highly of Michigan State over the past year and he even took an official visit back in October. Since then, he’s garnered a ton of interest from major programs including Alabama, Arkansas, San Diego State, USC, and Virginia. He’s weighing his options.

At the recent Pangos All-American Camp, he spoke with 247Sports’ Brandon Jenkins about his recruitment and he said that he is planning officials to Alabama and Cincinnati.

He also said that one Michigan State player is “relentless” in his recruitment: Xavier Booker.

The five-star big man from the 2023 class has apparently been doing some recruiting of his own, per Jenkins’ interview with Richardson.

“Every coach calls me every other day. I like the culture there. Everybody there is family. Xavier Booker has also been relentless in recruiting me.”

Surprised to hear this? A lot of people might be considering Booker was widely considered by Spartan fans to be a one-and-done prospect. Some experts, however, believe that he could be a 2-3 year type of player based on his frame and raw skills. Patience has been the word used by some recruiting experts regarding Booker.

As for the recruitment of Richardson, it’s cool to see that a highly-regarded player like Booker is putting in work to get Jase to Michigan State. You don’t often see that. Who wouldn’t want a five-star and top-10 player in the country to say they want to play with you?

This could be one heck of a recruiting tool for Izzo.

Richardson told Jenkins that he plans on committing before his season starts in the fall. He’s the No. 44 overall recruit and No. 7 combo guard in the nation, per the 247Sports Composite.

BB RECRUITING

Michigan State basketball prioritizing 5-star SG Isaiah Elohim

Elohim would be a heck of a 2024 addition.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 24, 2023

Just Another Sports Fan

Michigan State basketball is one of six schools reaching out the most to five-star shooting guard Isaiah Elohim.

In a tweet from 24/7 High School Hoops, it was recently revealed that Michigan State basketball, among five other programs, is showing plenty of interest in highly-ranked shooting guard Isaiah Elohim from California.

2024 5⭐️ Isaiah Elohim is one of the top players in the ‘24 class. He told me he’s hearing the most from these schools lately:

UCLA
Kansas
Arkansas
Kansas State
USC
Michigan State

He tells me he’ll be looking to start setting up visits in the coming weeks. #11 in the ESPN100. pic.twitter.com/4jTXncDCJL

— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) May 23, 2023

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Elohim isn’t an athletic freak like Coen Carr, but has excellent size, speed, and athleticism regardless. He also has a good shot and excels at scoring the ball from around the court. It’s easy to envision him being the kind of guy in the future who can drop a flurry of jumpers and take over a game.

Elohim is currently attending Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, Calif. This is big-time basketball school that has produced plenty of NBA talent, including Kenyon Martin Jr. and current Detroit Piston Marvin Bagley. It’s also the same school that Bronny James attended. The fact that Elohim was able to excel at such a prestigious basketball school (against excellent competition) gives me plenty of confidence that he can translate to the next level.

Tom Izzo will have to beat out other big-name programs such as Kansas, UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, and Baylor (who have also reportedly been showing interest) for the top-20 ranked shooting guard. Michigan State just capped off a top-five ranked class for 2023, but keeping the recruiting hot streak going for 2024 would be massive for the program. The more five-stars you have, the more five-stars you get — talent wants to play with talent.

Look for a visit to be scheduled soon.

It might be time for Izzo to land his latest five-star.

BB RECRUITING

Coen Carr throws down incredible free throw line dunk (Video)

Coen Carr is a freak.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 21, 2023

Daily MSU

Coen Carr flashed his elite athleticism once again, throwing down a dunk from the free throw line this weekend.

Incoming MSU freshman forward Coen Carr has displayed his extreme athleticism all offseason. It seems like every week a new video surfaces of him doing something mindboggling.

Today’s highlight shows Carr dunking from the free throw line.

Coen Carr taking off from the FREE THROW LINE 🤯 (via daddyharden/TT) pic.twitter.com/R8U8OKK5qP

— Overtime (@overtime) May 21, 2023

This is something that most NBA players can’t even do but Carr looks like he is able to do this with ease and had the whole gym rocking in the video.

Coen Carr is one of four players joining the Michigan State Basketball program this season, joining five-stars Xavier Booker and Jeremy Fears as well as four-star Gehrig Normand. According to 247Sports, he is the No. 31 player in the class and No. 7 at his position. Carr was not always ranked this high, but his ranking skyrocketed during his senior season as he vastly improved his game.

Michigan State’s 2023 class is one of Tom Izzo’s best ever. The Spartans class is No. 4 in the country and is the best in the Big Ten. Each freshman will be ready to play day one and will mesh perfectly with the returning players.

What will Coen Carr do next? My guess is we won’t have to wait too long to see his next high-flying dunk shock the internet. He’s going to tear the roof off of Breslin next year.