When you think of national player of the year candidates from the Big Ten, the first and most obvious name that should come up is Jeremy Fears Jr.
The Michigan State point guard has earned the right to be the Big Ten’s favorite to win the award and he could very well become the first-ever Spartan to win some of these prestigious individual awards. But he does have a teammate that should also be considered a top candidate and he’s been given some early odds to win the national player of the year award in 2026-27.
That teammate is Coen Carr and he has been given surprisingly-good preseason national player of the year odds by the sportsbooks, as reported by college hoops expert Ant Wright.
Just how good are his odds? Well, he has the sixth-best odds to win national player of the year in the entire Big Ten, ahead of guys like Moustapha Thiam, John Mobley, and Aiden Sherrell, and tied with Pryce Sandfort and Andrej Stojakovic. He’s being considered as one of the best all-around players in the Big Ten and while he doesn’t get a ton of respect for his overall game outside of his dunking ability, he’s shaping into a complete player.
If you have all the faith in the world that Carr is going to shock the world and win national player of the year, a $100 bet on him would win you $6,000.
As always, bet wisely.
Coen Carr is working hard to become a complete player
When Carr came to Michigan State as a freshman, he was looked at as pretty much just a dunker who could play a little defense, but whose overall game was really raw.
He averaged 11.6 minutes per game as a freshman, attempted 63 total field goals over 35 games, and most of them were dunks. Carr averaged 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds, shooting 65.1% from the floor while attempting no threes and making just 56 percent of his free throws.
As a sophomore, he added a little more to his game, making 5-of-15 attempts from three, improving his free throw percentage to 70.1% and he averaged 8.1 points and 3.6 boards. He was on his way to becoming a more complete player, but he still had a lot of work to do.
As a junior, he blossomed. While he only made 21-of-76 shots from three, he did make a career-best 90 free throws and he added more to his offensive bag. He shot mid-range jumpers, attempted five times the threes he did the year before, he worked on his ball-handling, and he tightened up defensively. Carr became a much more well-rounded player, but he still wasn’t quite there yet.
That’s what the 2026-27 season is for.
If Carr can tighten the screws offensively a bit and maintain that defensive prowess, he’s going to be a legitimate first-team All-Big Ten selection and a real candidate for national player of the year.
Believe it or not, he’s not just a dunker anymore.
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