Coen Carr shares the one thing that makes Tom Izzo so special to him

Every Spartan fan remembers the excitement that surrounded Michigan State’s 2023 recruiting class. Jeremy Fears Jr. committed and then worked on guys like Xavier Booker, Gehrig Normand, and eventually Coen Carr. Landing Carr felt like a long shot originally because he was from Georgia and didn’t have much of a Michigan State connection.

Carr was recruited hard by Tom Izzo and the other three members of the Spartans’ 2023 class and he eventually picked Michigan State.

Coming in, Carr was more of just an athlete and dunker, but he’s developed his game into much more as a junior, and he has Izzo to thank for that. Well, Carr’s hard work and Izzo’s constant coaching on and off the court are to thank for the junior forward’s rise this season.

The Georgia native has grown into an all-around player and Izzo praises him at every turn, calling him a good player but an even better person.

The feeling is mutual.

Carr joined a podcast recently to talk about a number of things, but one topic that caught my attention was his relationship with Izzo.

He talked about what makes Izzo so special to him and Carr’s answer was perfect.

”To have a coach for me that wants to coach a player for four years. He’s always going to look out for his players. And just to have a coach like that, especially now, that’s like the main thing I wanted for sure.”

Carr mentioned the word “stability” and touched on former players coming back to talk to the team, mentioning how you might hate him in a certain moment, but you’ll appreciate him down the line.

That’s what you call culture.

Michigan State has the best culture in college basketball

I’ve been saying this for a while now, and I even wrote about it earlier this week after Izzo spoke to Kay Adams about how Mateen Cleaves still comes around, Draymond Green talks to the team, and Magic Johnson was going to call the Spartans before the Sweet 16.

Not many other programs have absolute an absolute program legend coming back to speak to the team before a big NCAA Tournament game, let alone three legends.

This culture wasn’t built overnight, but it’s something that Izzo has worked hard to maintain.

That’s why guys like Carr and Fears are going to come back to visit 10 years down the line when Izzo’s replacement is in charge and the Hall of Famer is still around the basketball program.