Michigan State Basketball: 5 reasons Nick Ward return makes Spartans Big Ten favorites

Michigan State basketball received some good news on Tuesday as Nick Ward announced he’d be returning for his junior year.

With just over 24 hours remaining to make a decision regarding his immediate future in either East Lansing or the NBA draft, Nick Ward made a smart choice. He removed his name from the NBA draft pool and announced he’d be returning to Michigan State for his junior season.

The news wasn’t all that surprising to those who have followed his draft stock as he’s been listed as a potential late-second round pick, at best. There was a decent chance he would go undrafted and he decided another year under Tom Izzo would serve him well, despite their differences.

Michigan State now has a good shot at repeating as the Big Ten champion in 2018-19 with Ward’s return, and some may argue he gives the Spartans the best shot in the conference.

Ward could make the Spartans Big Ten favorites in 2018-19, and here’s why.

5. Depth in the post no longer a question mark

If Nick Ward made the decision to march off to the NBA, the Spartans would have been left with Xavier Tillman, Kenny Goins and walk-on Braden Burke returning from the 2017-18 squad. They are, however, bringing in Thomas Kithier and Marcus Bingham Jr. to play down low.

That’s not exactly the depth of a winning team.

With Ward back, the Spartans don’t have to rely on playing a walk-on transfer extended minutes, even though Burke may be better than expected, as well as a former walk-on (Goins). Kithier and Bingham Jr. will get some solid time early on, but won’t be thrown into the fire just yet. They’ll get to sit back and learn before playing 10-plus minutes per game.

The post is going to be less crowded, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it’ll be a two-man show between Ward and Tillman, for the most part.

Not having to rely on a second-year player to be your go-to guy in the post after playing minimally as a freshman helps matters.