Michigan State basketball lost its best player from the 2024-25 Big Ten title season to the NBA and a couple of other top players to graduation as well as the transfer portal, but a few big names return.
Jase Richardson was just selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, marking Tom Izzo's first first-rounder since Jaren Jackson Jr. in 2018 and the first one-and-done since Max Christie a few years ago. He is hoping to set off a trend and many believe that the next Spartan to be drafted will be junior forward Coen Carr.
The Georgia native came to Michigan State as one of the most explosive athletes in the country but he didn't have much else to his game other than elite leaping and plus defense.
Since coming to East Lansing, he's developed nicely into an even stronger defender and a player who can do more than just dunk. He added a jumper to his game last season even if it was rather inconsistent. He wasn't fully comfortable in the mid-to-long range, but he showed flashes of rapid development. Carr's biggest need this offseason before flirting with the NBA next year would be a jumper and some better ball-handling.
So far this offseason, it looks like he's been working heavily on both of those.
So with the 2025 NBA Draft in the books, it's time to look ahead to where the Spartan forward might end up in the 2026 process. Early on, he's getting some mixed reviews.
CBS Sports only projected the lottery, but Carr did not make the cut, however, NBADraftRoom projected all 60 picks and it had the junior forward going No. 50 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Bleacher Report projected the first round and it didn't have Carr going and ESPN also posted its top 60 prospects for next year's draft and Coen was not listed, surprisingly.
Carr still has plenty of time to perfect his craft and build his NBA Draft resume, but as of the summer before his junior year, he's likely going to need multiple seasons of proven growth before a team will take a chance on him. I'd love to see a meteoric rise, though.