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Michigan State Basketball: Final player grades for 2018-19 season

By Connor Muldowney

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Kenny Goins #25, Xavier Tillman #23 and Aaron Henry #11 of the Michigan State Spartans huddle up prior to the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Kenny Goins #25, Xavier Tillman #23 and Aaron Henry #11 of the Michigan State Spartans huddle up prior to the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts after being injured against the LSU Tigers during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Nick Ward #44 of the Michigan State Spartans reacts after being injured against the LSU Tigers during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

. F/C. Junior. NICK WARD. B

What started off as a turnaround season for Nick Ward, averaging the second-most points on the team behind Cassius Winston actually turned into the worst-case scenario.

Ward was looking like a potential All-Big Ten talent in the post and a guy who could play with any team’s bigs but suffered a broken hand against Ohio State and faded back into the bench rotation. He was a sure starter for the first two-thirds of the season but then returned from that injury to become a bench player.

Xavier Tillman took his spot in the starting lineup when he was injured and then held onto it even when Ward returned. He didn’t quite look like the same player as confidence seemed to be part of the issue as well as conditioning.

If he was never injured nor missed time, Ward probably would have been in the A- range, but the end to his junior season was rough, to say the least. His points per game dipped from over 15 to 12.9 and he finished with 6.1 rebounds per game in 20.7 minutes.

Michigan State may need to replace him as there’s belief that he will declare for the NBA draft and remain in throughout the process.

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