The 2026 Moneyball Pro-Am is finished, and until next summer a pair of Michigan State basketball players hold bragging rights over their teammates.
Jeremy Fears Jr. had a chance to tie Thursday’s title game on a last-second shot, but he missed and Team Faygo — led by Michigan State youngsters Cam Ward and Jasiah Jervis — won the finale at Holt High School, 92-89.
Jervis hit nine 3s in the title game, including the winner with mere seconds on the clock. Ward finished with the most buckets in the league, averaging a sixth-best 28.4 points per game, where freshman combo guard Carlos Medlock Jr. averaged a high of 36.2 to lead all rostered players.
What did we learn about Michigan State’s players? What comes next as summer workouts continue? Here’s what Moneyball showed us.
Young and old, Michigan State is deep at guard
Outside of Fears, Michigan State lacked guard play a year ago that could consistently hit 3s and create shots in the half court. At least one of those issues shouldn’t be a problem this year, maybe even both.
Michigan State’s guards showed lots of promise in the Moneyball games — and not just because they stuffed the scoreboard. Fears hit 3s and dished lobs to his new center Anton Bonke. Medlock showed off his scoring finesse with a pair of 48-point games to set a league season-high. Jervis flashed his ability not only as a shooter, but also a bouncy athlete who can slash to the basket. And for the versatile group of wings, a buff Jordan Scott and a confidently healthy Kaleb Glenn were bigger developments than any shot falling.
Nobody is confusing Moneyball defense with the kind played in March Madness, and there’s nuance to the scoring totals. One thing that should stand out is the number of 3-point threats in that guard group.
A year ago, forward Jaxon Kohler led the way behind the arc with bench sharpshooter Kur Teng providing a burst here and there. Other shooters lacked reliability, though Scott got better as the year progressed.
This year, Jervis looks the part of a sharpshooter, Fears has taken a step with his shot and so it seems the group of Scott, Medlock and Glenn can give something there, too. So long as he’s healthy, Teng can too — he sat out Moneyball after foot surgery, but expects to be healthy for the season.
New center Anton Bonke developing chemistry with his point guards
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article listed Bonke and Fears on the same roster. They were not.
Though they were not on the same Moneyball roster — Bonke was working the pick and roll with Medlock — Anton Bonke is developing quite the connection with PG1.
Bonke, at 7-foot-2 and north of 260 pounds, is a physical menace the likes of which there was no peer in Moneyball. There are few in college basketball as a whole who can match his size, and mind you his physique isn’t doughy. The center from Vanuatu scored 10.6 points and hauled in 8.3 rebounds per game last year for Charlotte. He fills the shoes of Carson Cooper, who is moving on to pro basketball after graduation.
“I wanted to go to a program that had a chance to win and go to March Madness,” Bonke said in June. “So that was really the biggest reason.”
Also: getting to play with Fears. Michigan State’s leading scorer who averaged a nation-leading 9.4 assists per game. Fears recruited Bonke, who he met in person at an NBA draft workout, almost by hand.
“I watched Michigan State a lot during my recruiting process,” Bonke said. “I envisioned myself playing with him, and he was communicating with me too, so we kind of figured it out together.”
In Cooper, Fears regularly had a threat off the pick and roll as the former zero-star recruit honed himself into a reliable scoring threat. Cooper was also a terrific defender, even if higher usage made him a little bit less effective there than his dominant 2025.
Big shoes to fill, no doubt. Bonke may fit them in size, but on the court there are questions as to how his mid-major success will translate to a conference in the Big Ten where teams only go so far as their frontcourt allows. Those are questions Moneyball cannot answer, though his lobs and rolls with Fears in practice and with Medlock in games look better and better.
Elsewhere in the front court, Jesse McCulloch builds off his redshirt freshman season where he played sparingly after the calendar flipped. And freshman Ethan Taylor comes in as the Spartans’ top recruit, and he’s also 7-foot-2, though on the lankier side. He’s got a lot to learn in college basketball, but teammates say he’s talented.
“He’s a hell of a dunker, a finisher,” Fears said, with Taylor standing a few feet away in the same hallway. “I gotta keep his mind right, and he knows that, but he’s gonna keep getting better.”
Coen Carr not a one-trick pony
Carr said last season that he prefers blocks over dunks. It isn’t hard to see that when he gets a block on one of his teammates, smiling to soak it in as he jogs up the court to go score. The mere threat of a lurking Carr gave his Tri-Star Trust squad a defensive boost throughout Moneyball.
Carr focused this summer on getting better as an all-around player — distancing himself from the idea of a one-dimensional dunker. That growth includes shooting, where he is still polishing his 3-point shot that had opponents sagging off him a year ago, as well as ball-handling where he wants to contribute more to the overall offense.
“Kind of just creating for myself,” Carr said. “Coming off screens and everything, just being a multidimensional player. Trying to create for my team, too, you know I’ve been passing a lot more in practice and these games like this.”
Carr’s athletic abilities give him an edge all over the court. His vertical lets him look the rim square in the eye when he dunks. And those eyes stay in front of his opponents when he defends.
That part — defense — could be a big deal. Michigan State loses a pair of strong frontcourt defenders in graduates Cooper and Kohler, whose ability to control gaps prevented so many slashers from driving on them. Carr, though, is a better defender than he gets credit. Maybe he can shoulder some of the burden.
“I think he’s a little underrated, just with what he does,” Fears said. “Everybody really looks at dunks and obviously the highlight reels. But like, if you actually go back and watch, he’s actually a pretty great on-the-ball defender.”
All that builds up for Carr’s senior season — the rims at Breslin Center are probably relieved for that. For the fans, less so. But he’s determined to put on a good show in this final ride.
cearegood@detroitnews.com
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: 3 Michigan State takeaways from 2026 Moneyball Pro-Am
Reporting by Connor Earegood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Connor Earegood, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
