There's a moment in every March Madness tournament where a player announces himself to the people who don't follow college basketball every week. Where someone does something so athletic, so visually absurd, that the clip gets texted between friends who couldn't name five college teams.
Coen Carr is having that moment right now.
The Michigan State junior — 6'6", 230 pounds of coiled explosive power — went for 21 points and 10 rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting against Louisville in the first round. The stat line is good. The dunks were preposterous. Three of them made SportsCenter's top 10. Two of them made people involuntarily stand up from their couches. One of them is still circulating on every basketball account on the internet with the caption variations of "this isn't fair."
“Three of them made SportsCenter's top 10.”
Carr has been doing this all season. Michigan State's social media feeds are essentially a Coen Carr dunk compilation with occasional basketball content mixed in. Head coach Tom Izzo has described him as one of the most athletic players he's coached in over 30 years at East Lansing, which — given that Izzo's program has produced multiple NBA players — is not a casual compliment.
Key Takeaways
- →Coen Carr: Coen Carr is projected between the late first round and early second round of the 2026 NBA draft, with elite athleticism but concerns about his jump shot and 5-for-18 career three-point shooting.
- →Michigan State: Coen Carr is projected between the late first round and early second round of the 2026 NBA draft, with elite athleticism but concerns about his jump shot and 5-for-18 career three-point shooting.
- →NBA Draft: Coen Carr is projected between the late first round and early second round of the 2026 NBA draft, with elite athleticism but concerns about his jump shot and 5-for-18 career three-point shooting.
- →Spartans: Coen Carr is projected between the late first round and early second round of the 2026 NBA draft, with elite athleticism but concerns about his jump shot and 5-for-18 career three-point shooting.
The NBA draft conversation is where it gets complicated. Carr is projected somewhere between the late first round and early second round in the 2026 draft. His athleticism is elite. His defensive versatility — the ability to guard multiple positions with lateral quickness and length — translates directly to the next level. In transition, he's virtually unstoppable.
The jump shot, though. Through three college seasons, Carr has shot 5-for-18 from three-point range. His free throw percentage sits at 65.2%. At the NBA level, where defenses can afford to sag off non-shooters and clog driving lanes, that limitation becomes a structural problem. You can dominate college games on athleticism alone. The NBA requires at least a credible perimeter threat.
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Can he develop one? The raw mechanics aren't broken. The release point is reasonable. But the sample size is small, and the indicators aren't encouraging.
Izzo said after the Louisville win that Carr is "playing with a confidence right now that I haven't seen in him all season. Something clicked in February and it hasn't gone away." In March, that kind of momentum is worth more than any scouting report.
For now, Michigan State is still alive, and every time Carr gets the ball near the rim, something incredible might happen. Whether the jump shot ever arrives is a question for June. The answer matters more for his draft position than for this tournament run.
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