Michigan State has a lot of returning talent returning next season.
The Spartans are bringing back seven scholarship players from last year’s roster, assuming Jeremy Fears Jr. withdraws from the NBA Draft. Three of those returnees are guards, while the rest are forwards. The needed improvements from the guards came down on Saturday; here’s what the forwards need to improve.
Coen Carr: Three-Point Shooting
The biggest thing between Coen Carr and a long NBA career is a decent three-point shot. He started taking threes with some significant volume for the first time last season, averaging 2.2 attempts per contest, but the percentage only reached 27.6%.
Even though most teams were relatively fine giving Carr space on the perimeter, Carr still averaged 12.0 points per game last season, which was a jump from 8.1 the year before. His numbers as a rebounder and a passer also improved.
Carr’s ceiling is still as high as anyone’s in college basketball, thanks to his off-the-charts athleticism. An NBA team will probably give Carr a shot in 2027 off of that alone. Wings need to be able to shoot three-pointers these days to play in the NBA, though. You can get there with amazing defense, like the Pistons’ Ausar Thompson, but Carr isn’t in that tier defensively…