More than midway through the season, Michigan State appears to have gotten a gem in Gahanna graduate Nick Ward.
As a freshman, Ward has played his way into the starting lineup on a young team and onto the Big Ten’s leader board in nearly a half-dozen categories.
When the 6-foot-8, 250-pound Ward signed with Michigan State, coach Tom Izzo saw him as the least likely in a four-player recruiting class to make much of an impact this season. Then Deyonta Davis surprisingly declared for the NBA and the frontcourt took hits with injuries to Ben Carter and Gavin Schilling, and Izzo needed someone to step into the void.