MUNCIE, Ind. — When Payton Sparks began to train with BSU men’s basketball earlier this summer, he understood the challenge in front of him.
Sparks, who’ll be a freshman with Ball State this upcoming season, came in with the aim of playing right away at the college level. The local 6-9 product out of Winchester said he wanted to contribute “big minutes,” a goal that was critical for the “big man” — as BSU head coach James Whitford put it — in the Cardinals’ most recent recruiting class. And putting himself in a position to do so, meant losing a significant amount of weight and improving his percentage of body fat.