PHOTO: Michigan State soars to the basket against Washington.

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By TOM SHANAHAN

As we watch Michigan State’s Coen Carr soar for dunks, my mind drifts to David “Skywalker” Thompson, the model of a leaper with a complete game. Carr, to his coachable credit, has demonstrated strides his sophomore year toward an all-around game.

North Carolina State’s campus boasts a statue of Thompson soaring off a 44-inch pedestal outside Reynolds Coliseum. The base was sculpted – to the inch — to match Thompson’s 44-inch leaps that awed college basketball in the mid-1970s.

Let’s keep in mind Thompson is an immortal. No one is saying Carr can match Thompson’s game. Thompson was a 6-foot-4, 195-pound forward — in an era before the three-guard offense — who led NC State past UCLA and Bill Walton to win the 1974 NCAA title. A Sports Illustrated cover photo of NC State’s win showed Thompson with his hand on the ball clearly six inches or so above the 6-11 Walton’s reach.

But let’s also acknowledge Carr’s progress we saw in the Spartans’ 80-78 victory on Sunday over Illinois. The 6-6, 225-pounder pleased the Breslin Center crowd with a couple of dunks, but he also hit a mid-range jumper, drove to the basket while dishing off for an assist and hit a three-point field goal.

Next up, Carr and the Spartans take the marquee stage of Madison Square Garden Saturday against Rutgers. A monster dunk at MSG might draw Carr wider national attention to go with the Big Ten leaders (16-2, 7-0 Big Ten) having climbed to No. 8 in the rankings.

Coen “Skywalker” Carr?

Carr has been listed as having a 39 ½-inch standing jump and 51-inch running jump. No doubt digital measuring aids differ from the 1970s, so comparing calculated leaping marks then and now isn’t the point.

For this story, I wanted to know more about what to watch for as Carr’s game grows. I consulted a guy qualified with more than one perspective on Thompson’s natural all-around skills — Phil Spence. He was Thompson’s teammate at NC State and went on to learn what it takes to teach skills to players as a high school and college coach. Spence was North Carolina Central’s head coach (2000-01 to 2003-04), including CIAA Coach of the Year in 2002-03.

“Even if David wasn’t a leaper, he was still a great player,” Spence said.

If you think I’m skipping over Michael Jordan as the gold standard, don’t. Jordan himself said Thompson was the best. As a kid growing up in Wilmington, N.C., he worshiped Thompson. Jordan asked Thompson to stand up for him when Jordan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

PHOTO: NC State’s David Thompson (6-4) soars over UCLA’s Bill Walton (6-11) in the Wolfpack’s upset of the Bruins in the 1974 Final Four semifinals.

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Spence added, “David had a quick first step, and he could hit from three-point range, even though we didn’t have the three-point shot back then. He could drive to the basket. He could go backdoor. He could jump out of the gym. He was a great rebounder. He was very competitive. He was an unselfish player.”

The dunk was outlawed by the NCAA during Thompson’s college days, yet his scoring averages in three varsity seasons were 24.1, 26.0 and 29.9 points a game. One-dimensional players don’t average those kinds of numbers.

Thompson patented his version of scoring off an alley-oop pass without dunking by soaring to the rim and dropping the ball through the hoop. He had to do this without his hands crossing the cylinder or he’d be called for offensive goaltending.

“You had to catch the ball and gracefully put it down,” Spence said. “You had to be a great athlete to do that. Grace and control with the ball is harder than physically slamming it down.”

A typical Thompson alley-oop score started with an opponent overplaying Thompson and point guard Monte Towe recognizing the matchup.

“David would fake he was going outside, cut back door and Monte would lob the ball to the rim area,” Spence said.

So, how did teams defend him?

“They left Phil Spence open,” said THE Phil Spence, alluding to double-teaming Thompson.

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Breslin Center fans want to see Carr dunk, of course, but he could have borrowed from Thompson’s “drop in the hoop” in the Spartans’ win last week over Penn State. Carr missed an alley-oop dunk that ricocheted off the back of the rim. The crowd, anticipating another Carr special, deflated like a popped balloon. Pfft!

Carr explained afterward he jumped too high.

“Most times I look the ball in first, but that time the rim kind of got in my way,” Carr told Jack Ebling after the game in a recording aired on “The Drive with Jack” radio show.

By the time the dunk was reinstated in the college game for the 1976-77 season, Thompson was off to the NBA. Interestingly, the next alley-oop evolution was a finishing slam patented at Michigan State by Earvin “Magic” Johson passing to high-flying Greg Kelser.

The Spartans advanced to the NCAA Regional finals in 1978 and won the 1979 NCAA title. The ghosts of those Special K slams still reverberate around Jenison Fieldhouse’s rafters. If Carr can model Kelser’s game, he’ll end up in Michigan State’s Hall of Fame.

Thompson eventually gained a reputation as a dunker in the NBA and, and it wasn’t until then he was dubbed “Skywalker.” The fitting moniker was a nod the character Luke Skywalker in the 1977 movie Star Wars.

But Spence said he saw plenty of Thompson dunks at NC State practices.

“We’d clown around, even though Coach (Norm) Sloan told us not to,” Spence said. “I thought I was a pretty good dunker until I saw David.”

Spence’s favorite was when Thompson pinned the ball to the left side of his chest with his arm bent at the elbow in a V-shape.

“He’d take a running start and jump over the rim. He’d switch to his right and hand and jam it through.”

Carr has demonstrated his own repertoire of fancy dunks outside of games. He doesn’t need any advice in that department.

But if Carr finds himself caught “jumping too high” in a future game, he can pay homage to Thompson. He can gracefully drop the ball through the hoop – David “Skywalker” Thompson style.

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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanamag.com. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.

My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.

Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.

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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s

Foreword by Ruffin McNeill

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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.

RAYE OF LIGHT

Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans

Foreword by Tony Dungy

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Click here to purchase my children’s book, Bubba’s Dad, Duffy and College Football’s Underground Railroad

The book for now is only a Kindle version on Amazon. Print and audio platforms available soon.