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Coen Carr's best dunks: Ranking Michigan State star's greatest jams, from Alcorn State poster to Louisville slam originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There's a rising tide developing in the world of college basketball. He goes by a simple, alliterative name: Coen Carr.
The Michigan State standout may not have the most impressive stats, nor the most consistent displays, but what the Spartans talent lacks in production, he makes up for with explosiveness — particularly once he gets up in the air.
Carr is college basketball's best dunker. Don't take out word for it. Jason Richardson — a fellow Tom Izzo acolyte and two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion — agrees.
So, too, does Richardson's son and Carr's former teammate, Jase Richardson, who told reporters he'd take Carr, not his dad, in a hypothetical slam dunk contest.
"I think Coen’s the best athlete in Michigan State basketball [history]," Jase Richardson said.
So, just which Carr slam reigns supreme over the rest? The Sporting News takes a look at Carr's best jams from his spell in East Lansing.
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Coen Carr's best dunks
1. Coen Carr posterizes Alcorn State
- Date: Nov. 19, 2023
Carr has collected a treasure trove of impressive jams across his two-year spell in East Lansing. It will be hard for any of them to top one of his first entries into the collection, a two-handed throw-down through contact against Alcorn State.
Carr started his ascent like he usually does, driving hard from the three-point line before planting two feet in the lane. An opposition defender attempted to meet him at his apex, throwing both hands up in the hopes of deflecting Carr's attempted jam away.
It didn't work. Carr used every inch of his impressive vertical leap to launch the ball — and the defender — through the hoop.
Reactions were understandably crazed:
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2. Coen Carr rises high to throw down alley-oop poster vs. Minnesota
- Date: Jan. 28, 2025
Carr can climb the ladder from a number of different angles. In this incident, the standout sophomore raced to a gleaming lane as Jase Richardson pushed the ball down the right side of the floor.
Minnesota forward Parker Cox attempted to get back and put a contest on what he, Carr, and Richardson knew was coming. Richardson started the spectacle, flicking a pass toward an on-rushing Carr.
Fox was in the frame, but his leap couldn't compare to that of Carr's, who used two hands to rip the orb through the basket. Fox fouled him as he did so, cementing the highlight as one that will linger in Carr's signature tape for years to come.
3. Coen Carr tomahawk slam vs. Florida Atlantic
- Date: Dec. 21, 2024
During a dreary mid-winter matchup against Florida Atlantic, Carr took flight, leaping to the rafters after corralling a pass from Jeremy Fears Jr. on a fast break.
Carr mimicked an eclipse, sweeping over his weary marker as he approached the rim. He stretched his left hand wide to overpower the Owls defense, capping off the slam with his patented powerful flourish. The Breslin Center concourses couldn't help but vault out of their seats in admiration.
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4. Coen Carr puts his teammate on a poster
- Date: March 2, 2025
Spartans forward Jaxon Kohler also got caught in the Carr tidal wave, seeing his hopes and dreams crumble as Carr ripped another tomahawk jam, this time against Wisconsin.
The situation was as such: with Michigan State leading the No. 11 Badgers with a little more than five minutes left, Carr received the ball on the break. Flying down the left side of the floor, Carr found himself with open pasture in front of him. He darted to the rack in two steps and rocked the ball into the basket.
Kohler saw the whole thing unfold, but he only narrowly avoided contact with the Stockbridge, Ga., native, having to settle for watching intently as Carr's knee approached his face.
5. Coen Carr draws Michael Jordan comparisons following March Madness dunk vs. Louisville
- Date: March 21, 2026
Carr soared partway through Michigan State's joust with Louisville in the 2026 NCAA tournament. He invoked the spirit of the sport's greatest-ever dunker when he did so.
With the Spartans locked in a tight affair against ACC royalty, Carr climbed the ladder. He evaded his markers, catching the ball in space on the fast-break less than two minutes into the second half.
Carr cuffed the ball in his trusty left hand, rose up with a one-handed tomahawk and slammed the ball through the hoops. As he took flight, his tongue dangled out of his mouth in an apparent nod to Michael Jordan.
6. Coen Carr posterizes Florida Atlantic...again
- Date: Dec. 21, 2024
The Spartans' holiday time joust with the Owls served as a perfect platform for Carr to show off his gravity-defying leap.
As it turned out, he did so twice in one minute. The first represented the third-place entry in this list. The second preceded it, with Carr pairing finesse with power to craft one of this season's best slams.
Carr returned to his usual stead on the fast break, pounding the ball down the floor after a Michigan State steal.
Things looked fairly unremarkable as he strode towards the three-point line. Then, he found a sliver of space, slaloming beyond defenders with a eurostep.
Carr was at the rim, shadowed by another Florida Atlantic defender. He had to dispose of him before it was too late. So, he employed force, punching the ball through the target.
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Coen Carr dunk highlights
Carr has accrued endless high-profile slams in recent seasons. Here's a comprehensive look at some others that just missed the cut:
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