Moneyball ProAm Day Four: Surprising MSU three-point shooting, Coen Carr, new veterans

By Brendon Pricco

Week two of the 20th annual Moneyball Pro Am wrapped up on Thursday night, and Michigan State basketball fans were treated to the highest scoring individual performance of the summer … so far. 

Coen Carr dunks, some surprising three-point shooting, and new veterans leading their teammates were all on Thursday’s menu for the Spartan fans packing the gym at Eastern High School.

Jordan Scott, listed on Team Snipes, was still out with an injury, but on the bench again. Divine Ugochukwu was out as well, with athletic tape on his heel. Ugochukwu has played on the first three nights of Moneyball. Denham Wojcik was not in attendance and is usually on Team SPS Edge.

Here are three quick thoughts on some MSU players’ performances and comments from Thursday evening.

Spartans set the nets on fire

On the second and last night that Moneyball was at Eastern High School, several Michigan State players wore out the nets with their deep shooting. In the first game of the night, Trey Fort exploded for 58 points and was scorching from three-point range.

The Samford transfer drilled 10 threes on Thursday, following a nine-three output earlier this week on Tuesday.

His 10 threes are second only to Cassius Winston’s 11 in a 2018 game since Moneyball began tracking and publishing stats in 2017.

Fort wasn’t the only Michigan State basketball player who was successful from beyond the arc. Both Carson Cooper and Cam Ward made five threes, with Cooper’s baskets bringing loud cheers from Spartan fans packed in the gym.

Michigan State was one of the worst three-point shooting teams in college basketball last season, shooting just 31.1% from deep, slotting them in at 320th in all of college basketball. 

That number has to improve this season if Tom Izzo’s club wants to replicate their 2024 success.

New leadership

Jeremy Fears. Jr is entering his third season with the prorgam, and even though he has three years of eligibility remaining, he’s now a veteran. His leadership is apparent, even just while watching him in Moneyball. 

The self-touted “floor general” is often clapping, encouraging and laughing with his teammates, and – even last summer when he wasn’t on an official Moneyball roster due to his injury – would play sporadically when a team needed a player and was always rooting on his teammates from the sideline.

For Fears, the leadership comes naturally, and he’s enjoying being the veteran.

“I actually love it,” Fears said when asked about being a leader in the program. “Just being able to be that vet and having that knowledge. (I’ve) been through it, (I’ve) seen a lot of different players and perspectives in my time.”

The point guard mentioned how important it was for him to have players like Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard and Malik Hall take him under their wing when he was first entering the program, and now he’s able to do that for freshmen and incoming transfers.

“So they can pass that experience and knowledge on to me and hopefully I’m able to pass it down to other players,” Fears said.

Integrating new pieces

Nick Sanders is the lone Spartan without a Michigan State teammate on the Moneyball rosters. His squad, Team Case, faced off against Team Snipes on Thursday, going up against incoming MSU transfer Trey Fort.

Fort is supposed to be playing with freshman Jordon Scott, but Scott has been out with an injury. Fort and Scott are two of the new pieces being added to the Michigan State roster – pieces whom Sanders, who will be a senior leader this fall, is working on integrating into the program.

“I feel like (the newcomers) come along well,” Sanders said. “They’ve come along fast. Everybody’s kind of bonding like we did last year, so hopefully it can be a similar result.” 

Sanders paused briefly and then adjusted his expectations on the fly.

“… (a) better (result).”

Last year, the Michigan State basketball team won a Big Ten Championship and went on an Elite Eight run, an experience that Sanders will treasure, but it is clear he is still hungry for more.

“The whole year was fun, all the way from the summer, all the way to the end,” Sanders said. “Just how guys acted with each other, everybody was not only teammates, but friends.”

Opportunities for bonding in the summer outside of practice, like Moneyball, are critical to a team’s chemistry, something that obviously yielded positive results last year. And, so far, according to Sanders, the new guys are fitting right in.

The Moneyball Pro Am will return to Holt High School next week with games starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15.

Moneyball Notes from Day Three: Jeremy Fears Jr., Kur Teng and Spartan family

Moneyball Memo: Catching up with some of the new additions on MSU Basketball’s 25-26 roster

Take a Look: Who is Michigan State men’s basketball targeting in the 2026 class so far?

Night Two of Moneyball: Three takeaways for the Michigan State players

Moneyball Memo: Catching up with MSU’s Carr, Kohler, Ward, and Ugochukwu