Michigan State basketball: Cam Ward emerges as top freshman in Arkansas matchup

On Saturday, the stage was set for Michigan State basketball. Two Hall of Fame coaches, Tom Izzo and Arkansas’s John Calipari, were set to battle in an early November matchup. As far as the players go, Arkansas brought star freshmen Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas entered with all the hype, while the Spartan hype focused around their returning core four from last season’s Elite Eight squad. Not much was made about freshman forward Cam Ward, who was entering his second collegiate game with the Spartans.

As soon as Carson Cooper hit the bench with two early fouls, it was Ward’s time to shine. The freshman took the game over, finishing with 12 points in 14 minutes in the first half, to pair with five rebounds and two steals. Simply put, the four-star was everywhere on the court.

Cam Ward speaks on motivation, being the spark for Michigan State basketball

Following his game, he was the focus of the media in the locker room, and it was time to really learn more about the freshman from Maryland.

For the freshman, the environment was amazing. Even during his recruiting process, Ward never got to see the Breslin Center light up on game day.

“I never got to see a game, never ever ever. Other than Midnight Madness, I had never been to a game,” Ward revealed. “I had so many chills tonight, man, it was crazy. I loved every bit of tonight! This is why I play basketball. I knew once I caught chills, that was the main reason I was going to have a good game. It sparked something in me. If you can play a game like this and not feel any nerves, then this is not the game for you. I was nervous, for sure, but I knew I had to step up for my team today.”

While the chills hit Ward right away, what really got him going was no surprise. The hard-working freshman felt it from his first rebound and dunk.

“From the first rebound to the dunk, just making an impact early, that is what sparked the fire in me,” Ward said. “This could, this could be a time for me to go and be a dawg, and that is what coach was telling me all game, ‘be a dawg, be a dawg. Just be the best player you can be in the moment.’”

Ward was quick to shine some praise on his teammates too, something he did at nearly every opportunity in his media availability.

“I’m just so grateful for my teammates having my back, and telling me to just keep going, in practice, they just helped me so much in practice and I cannot take any credit for this,” the freshman deflected praise. “This is from my teammates and my coaches (preparing me).”

The focus is already on for Thursday’s upcoming Spartan bowl, with the San Jose State Spartans traveling to the Breslin Center.

“We’re gonna celebrate tonight, but tomorrow, the focus is on San Jose State. The energy changes. We’re going to enjoy tonight, but tomorrow, we are going to start worrying about who we start playing next,” Ward said of his mindset.

The freshmen duo of Cam Ward and Jordan Scott have been standing out in the early season, and Ward was asked what the secret is for the two of them. Simply put, all the freshmen want to do is win. They came to play for Michigan State basketball for a reason.

“We want to win,” Ward stated. “We don’t come from losing programs in high school or AAU. His team is back-to-back state championships, my team is back-to-back state championships. All we know is winning, so why would we come into a losing program, and think that is what it is going to be? We came into a winning program, that has a history of winning, and that’s why we win. That is what hungers us, and drives us to be great, because we want to keep winning.”