Michigan State Basketball: Nick Ward makes preseason All-Big Ten team

Michigan State basketball had a couple of players named to the preseason All-Big Ten team. One of those was junior big man Nick Ward.

When Nick Ward declared for the NBA following Michigan State’s 2017-18 season, it looked like the Spartans would be in full rebuild mode. He was one of the biggest pieces to the puzzle as a sophomore, but a lack of minutes and a rumored toxic relationship with Tom Izzo marred his campaign.

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As the deadline to withdraw names from the NBA draft grew closer, it seemed like Ward was likely to return as he hadn’t signed an agent, but fans were being cautiously optimistic — as was Izzo.

In the end, Ward did make the decision to come back for his junior season, dusting off those rumors of a poor relationship with Izzo and the notion that he just didn’t enjoy playing college ball as much as other former players for the green and white — it’s hard to compare anyone to the anomaly that was Miles Bridges.

Improvements made over the summer were evident in the annual Moneyball tournament as he showcased more athleticism, quickness and even a jump shot.

Even without seeing these improvements in live action, the Big Ten released it’s voted preseason all-conference team with Ward as one of the headliners.

It seemed as if Ward had been snubbed from All-Big Ten honors throughout his career, so it’s good to finally see him get the recognition he deserves.

Ward has a chance to become one of the best bigs in the conference, especially if he can develop a jumper. He is dominant in the post, making 65 percent of his field goals a year ago. He could also be a candidate for conference player of the year — something Bridges couldn’t even do.

It’ll be good to see Ward shake that “Ward and Izzo hate each other” notion this season and dominate in the post throughout the tough non-conference slate and into Big Ten action.