Welcome to Conference Tournament week! As the 2025-2026 regular season has now come to an end for Michigan State Men’s Basketball, it comes time to not only look forward to the big dance, but also take a look back at the year in review. The 25-6 (15-5) Spartans compiled an impressive resume, complete with blowout wins, road triumphs, and several explosive highlights- many of which being thanks to none other than the 6’6 small forward from Stockbridge, GA, Coen Carr.
As of March 9, 2026, the junior
athlete leads the entire NCAA in dunks with 72 slams over the course of the 25-26 season. That’s good for an average of 2.3 dunks per game, and I’d argue at least one moment per game that garners a reaction like that of his teammate Jaxon Kohler, as seen below.
Today, we are going to relive several of Carr’s best dunks, and take on the tough task of selecting a top five of the 72 rim rocking slam dunks that got Spartan Nation up out of their seats this regular season.
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Honorable Mentions (because how could I just pick five??)
- Euro-Step Slam vs Rutgers
As per usual, point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. is on the assisting end of this one. However, it is Carr who gets himself open for this dunk, employing a powerful rocker step to split two defenders and create space for the two-handed flush. This isn’t Coen’s highest-flying dunk, but is an impressive example of his lateral quickness and immediate ability to explode out of an advanced driving move. One dribble and two steps are all Flight 55 needs to evade a pair of Scarlet Knights and cash in for two points in style.
- Seam Route Alley-Oop vs Maryland
Our next honorable mention is one that Tom Izzo and staff may want to send to Coach Pat Fitzgerald and the football team, as Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr combine for an alley-oop that nearly looks like a quarterback throwing his big tight end open on a vertical route in the middle of the field. #13, serving as the deep safety for Maryland, starts with several feet of a cushion in defending Carr’s path up the gut, but it matters not. Coen turns on the jets, and gives Fears just enough room to lead him on a perfect pass that sets up a poster dunk. Touchdown for Flight 55.
- 7-foot-4? No problem. (vs Purdue)
Talk about hang time. Late in the first half versus Purdue, down 3 and needing a bucket, Coen makes a beautiful cut and goes directly over the 7’4” Center, Daniel Jacobsen for the slam. Not much to say other than WOW.
- The signature Carr tomahawk vs Indiana
This is it. The quintessential Coen Carr slam dunk. He sprints to get ahead of the defense, gathers himself, and absolutely punishes the ball through the rim for the two. While the Izzone reaction here is incredible, check out the MSU bench explode out of their seats even before Coen takes off. I’ll give #2 Kur Teng the nod for the second-highest vertical jump in this clip, followed closely by #6 Jordan Scott’s leap for joy behind the play. The fact that this very dunk is something we Spartan fans have come to expect in nearly every game is a testament to the Coen Carr experience. We are going to miss this kid when he’s gone.
Hang it in the Louvre. Now let’s get into the final five.
Top Five
5. Off the backboard vs Colgate
Starting us off is a highlight from the Spartans’ very first game of the year, at the Breslin Center against the Colgate Raiders. It didn’t take long for Coen Carr to deliver an NBA Dunk Contest-level slam, as Jeremy Fears once again delivers the perfect pass, this time off the backboard. Carr leaps into an almost-full vertical jump, and emphatically throws it down, rocking not only the rim, but the entire hoop, up to the shot clock above.
4. Give-and-Go Poster vs USC
With so many poster dunks to choose from, it was hard to determine which one(s) should make the top five. I ended up giving this one from the USC game the four spot, and here’s why. For starters, Coen creates this entire play himself, driving to the left elbow, giving a nice post feed to Jaxon Kohler, and making a hard cut down broadway. Kohler rewards his high-flying teammate with a great pass of his own, and Coen does the rest, going up above not one, but two Trojan big men for the and-one flush. Powerful stuff. Enjoy a variety of angles (and one gem of a reaction) from this one.
3. (Tie) A Pair of Reverse Alley-Oops
Part one- vs San Jose State
Part two- vs Illinois
While the latter certainly got a bit more attention and media coverage due to the difference in magnitudes between the two opponents, I could not let the similar reverse lob slam against the Spartans of San Jose State go without mention. The mental wherewithal and coordination it requires to turn these two plays, where Carr is facing opposite the rim while in the air, into highlights rather than epic fails, is impressive in its’ own right. But the fact that Coen was able to avoid hitting his head on the basket in both of these? Unheard of. Check out the dunk versus Illinois from a couple other angles.
2. Windmill vs Northwestern
Yeah. You’re gonna want to watch this one again.
Carr adds a bit of extra flavor to his usual rim run with a windmill, much to the delight of the alumni Izzone crowd for this home matchup with Northwestern. Dare I say this might be the highest we have ever seen Coen Carr jump in game? From the back angle, you can see his entire head clear the ten foot rim for this sensational windmill slam. A one-play case study in explosiveness, and big time slam to help his team start to pull away from a feisty Wildcat squad.
1. Windmill vs Purdue
While it was very difficult to select a top-five out of Carr’s illustrious body of work, I knew what my top dunk would be from the start. This windmill (FROM THE FREE-THROW LINE) slam, in my opinion, more impressive than anything we saw in this season’s NBA Dunk Contest. No offense to former Spartan Jase Richardson!
What makes this dunk even more memorable was the game from which it came. At the time, MSU was just starting to build a second half lead against Purdue in Mackey Arena, where State previously had not won since 2014. This dunk is the best example of how Carr’s dunks are not just great highlights, but truly serve as mini-runs (or mini-vans) for Michigan State basketball. They are instant momentum builders, crowd awakeners or silencers depending on venue, and so often mark MSU beginning to pull away in a hard fought game.
Let’s give this one the replay it deserves.
Hope you enjoyed reading and watching this thunderous compilation of Flight 55’s best work over the course of the 2025-26 season as much as I enjoyed compiling these highlights. How would you rank all of the dunks featured? Did I miss any slams that would make your own top five? Debate away in the comments below, and here’s to a tournament season full of SportsCenter Top 10 Moments for Coen Carr and the rest of our Spartans.
