The second week of the Moneyball Pro-Am gave Michigan State another look at what its summer ceiling could become, and the biggest takeaway was simple: several key Spartans are making real progress with their jump shots.
At Holt High School, Cam Ward, Coen Carr and Kaleb Glenn all turned in eye-catching weeks, each flashing a different version of offensive growth. The numbers were loud. The shot-making was louder.
Ward was the headliner. The rising sophomore put up 68 points across two games for Team Faygo, with most of that damage coming in a 47-point outing on Tuesday.
What made that performance stand out wasn’t just the scoring total. Ward buried seven three-pointers in that game, and through four days of competition and 12 total games, nobody else has matched that mark in a single game.
That kind of shooting would have sounded far-fetched during his freshman season, but Ward says he’s intentionally putting in work on that part of his game.
"I'm definitely going to probably start to ramp it up a little bit and enhance it now, because it's getting closer to that time of the back end of the summer," Ward said on Thursday. "That's something important that I'm going to kind of start doing and honing in the next couple of weeks, as far as practice goes."
Ward said he still hasn’t earned that “green light” from Tom Izzo and the staff, but that’s the target. Even if threes aren’t part of his game this season, his willingness to expand out to mid-range looks like it could become more of a factor.
He also sits atop the Moneyball scoring chart for now with 124 total points, though Coen Carr holds the event’s scoring average lead at 35.0 points per game after sitting out the second day of competition on Thursday, June 25.
Carr had his own strong stretch this week. He scored 46 points on Tuesday for Team Tri-Star Trust and followed that with 38 points on Thursday in a game that went to double overtime. He also knocked down four threes in the first game and two more in the second.
That matters because Carr has more pressure than most to become a real threat from deep. Still, there’s a reason to keep the reaction measured: he averaged 2.8 made three-pointers per game last summer at Moneyball, so the sample has to be taken in context.
What does seem more tangible is the look of the shot itself. Carr’s release appears smoother and quicker than it did a year ago, and there’s a different level of confidence behind it.
He made just 27.6% of his threes last season, the first year he started taking them regularly, but his progression has been steady across three seasons in East Lansing. He didn’t attempt any as a freshman, took one occasionally as a sophomore, and got up 2.2 per game as a junior.
If that trend keeps moving in the same direction, both Michigan State and Carr’s NBA outlook stand to benefit.
Glenn was another clear winner from Thursday’s action. He scored 37 points and hit four threes, pushing his Moneyball total to 116 points, which ranks fourth in the event behind Ward, Jervis and Avent.
The more he plays, the more obvious his value seems. Glenn’s three-point form is clean and polished, and that’s especially encouraging considering he is still working his way back to trusting his right knee after injuring it last June.
He offers more than perimeter shooting, too. At 6-foot-7, Glenn can attack the rim and use his size in a variety of ways. It’s easy to lose sight of just how important he was supposed to be after arriving as the top player in Michigan State’s four-man transfer portal class last offseason.
MSU spent all of last season without that kind of athletic, dynamic frontcourt piece because Glenn was injured and stuck on the bench. Now he looks ready to matter in a big way, whether that means starting or coming off the bench as the sixth man.
Izzo having confidence in Glenn at either the three or the four only gives the Spartans more ways to get him on the floor.
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Michigan State spent the offseason reworking its frontcourt after the departures of Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper, and Tom Izzo appears to have added size in response. Ethan Taylor and Anton Bonke arrive as the newest options inside, giving the Spartans a different look in a part of the roster that needed reinforcements. For a program that lives on physical play and late-season toughness, how quickly those pieces settle in could matter a lot.
Taylor is expected to be part of the rotation rather than an immediate starter, while Bonke brings the kind of traditional big-man profile that can change the feel of a game if it translates to Big Ten play. The upside is obvious: Michigan State may have found answers for a frontcourt that needed them. The concern is just as clear, because if the adjustment period drags on, the Spartans could still be searching for a true replacement when the games get bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Suddenly Has Real Momentum With A Rising 4-Star Guard
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The next step is already on the calendar, and it gives Michigan State a real chance to deepen the relationship after that first visit. Tyson is planning an official trip, and the Spartans are in the thick of the race with schools like Xavier and Ohio State, which makes every impression matter a little more. There is also a useful wrinkle at La Lumiere, where Tyson will be teaming with fellow Michigan State target Kingston Thomas, giving the Spartans another layer to sell as they try to turn early momentum into a commitment. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan States Newcomers Already Bring A Real Minutes Battle For Izzo
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Jasiah Jervis and Carlos Medlock Jr. appear best positioned to force their way into meaningful minutes, while the rest of the class may have a longer road to regular playing time. Ethan Taylor and Julius Avent, in particular, are walking into situations where established options make every possession count, and that kind of internal battle is exactly what Izzo wants as Michigan State keeps building toward the bigger picture, including the programs long-term push to be in the mix when Detroit hosts the 2027 Final Four. [Read more 🡒]