Izzo Compares Carr to Spartan Legend
What Coen Carr did against Florida Atlantic at the Breslin Center on Saturday was something those in attendance will never forget.
The sophomore forward recorded five dunks, a block and a 3-pointer in the victory, ultimately scoring a career-high 17 points.
Carr had the crowd on its feet several times throughout the contest, standing in awe as they witnessed plays you won't see many college players make.
"You saw our bench, you saw our fans, you saw their coach, you saw the players that were on the floor," said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo after the game. "It's like getting a big hit in football or getting an interception. I mean, there's things that are worth 2 points, and then, there's things that are worth way more than 2 points. Those dunks, at the time, were worth way more than 2 points."
It's been a long time since Izzo had a player who could get up like Carr. Izzo named a couple of his former players who Carr could be compared to, and ironically, one of them has a connection to this current Spartan roster.
"[H]is son [Jase Richardson] plays for me," Izzo said. "JR [Jason Richardson] was comparable, but the difference with JR at that age is he was about 175-180 pounds; Coen's 215-220. But JR had these long arms, and he was pretty good, too.
"So I've been blessed -- Shannon Brown; I mean, I've had a few guys, but Coen is getting so much better with the basketball, too. He's in his second year and he's just improving. And so, he's got such a great body, as he learns to rebound even better in the offensive end, I think his game is going to get better and better and better."
Jason Richardson played for Izzo for two seasons, his first having been as a member of Izzo's 2000 national title team. The following year, he became Michigan State's best player, leading it back to the Final Four to cap off what had been a stellar All-American campaign for the two-year Spartan.
"Coen and JR, I'm sure knowing JR, he's his biggest fan because he knows," Izzo said. "And the funny part is JR wasn't a very good shooter, and he made himself one of the better shooters in the NBA. JR worked unbelievably hard between his freshman and sophomore year and got better, not great. Then when he left, he got better and better and better because that's all he was doing is playing basketball.
"If Coen can keep working on that -- and next time I see Jason, I might have him tell him [Carr] the story. Jason went from, I mean, you saw him in high school; he was not a very good shooter, to I mean, I think he led the league a couple of years in 3-point field goal percentage. I mean, think about how much work that takes. So Coen's not there yet, but he is more powerful because he's probably 30 pounds heavier, maybe more."
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