Eight months ago, Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr and the rest of the 2025-26 Michigan State Spartans were chilling amidst the beachside views at Coach Tom Izzo’s Lake Michigan house. The team’s annual trip to Grand Haven, MI, was filled with jet skis, volleyball games and gliding along the crystal blue waters on inner tubes. It was also the inception of the two mottos they’ve been holding themselves to ever since.
Be Different. Strength in Numbers.
A little over 100 miles west of East Lansing is where the No. 8-ranked Spartans developed the connection that the college basketball world has seen grow into one of the most formidable squads in the nation. Before each game, home or away, the two phrases are scrawled on the locker room whiteboard. Whether through a prolonged stare or a quick glance, a total of five words remind each player of what they’re building toward and what’s required to get there.
“Winning games, that’s cool, but we want to win championships, whether it’s the Big Ten tournament, Big Ten championship, March Madness. All of that stuff is goals and dreams that you set before the season,” Jeremy says.
With five wins over teams ranked top-25 in the nation, the 25-5 Spartans are clicking at the perfect time with just one final contest left in the season. Tom Izzo’s reign of securing the best point guards in the country has continued with Jeremy Fears Jr. leading the Spartans with 15.1 points, 9.1 assists [the most in all of college basketball] and 1.3 steals per game. To his left on Michigan State’s first-ever SLAMU Digital Cover is the 6-6 junior that Spartan legend Jason Richardson has crowned “the best dunker when it comes to Michigan State history.” That would be Coen Carr.
Jared ebanks 