HOLT, Mich. - Cam Ward is spending his summer in a place Michigan State fans didn’t exactly expect to see him: behind the arc.
At the Moneyball Pro-Am, where MSU players get a little freedom to experiment in front of fans, Ward has become one of the more eye-catching regulars. Freshman Carlos Medlock Jr. and redshirt sophomore Jesse McCulloch have both tried out sky hooks, but Ward’s work on his three-point shot has stood out the most. For a player who barely looked outside the paint a year ago, it’s a noticeable shift.
Ward attempted only two 3-pointers as a freshman and missed both. He also shot 51.0% at the free-throw line, which helps explain why his offensive range was basically limited to the rim. So seeing him launch threes now is a real change, even if the full payoff might not come immediately.
“This is why I'm appreciative of Moneyball,” Ward told Spartan Nation on Thursday.
“You get to do it in live play. You're not playing against, like, slouches.
These guys are college guys; like D-II, D-III, JUCO guys; some overseas pros are back. You're actually playing against kind of the same level, if not better, competition sometimes, and especially playing against your teammates...
It's just easy to work on it when it's live.”
That live setting has already produced at least one eyebrow-raising result. Ward knocked down seven 3-pointers on Tuesday in a 47-point outing against Team BLT. Moneyball doesn’t track attempts, but the number alone says plenty about how far he’s come.
“You make a couple, you keep shooting them,” Ward also said. “You kind of get happy and things of that nature.
It's been a process, for sure. It's still going to be a good process to maintain during the season and gain Coach [Izzo]'s confidence, things of that nature, but I think I'm on the right path as far as that aspect of the game goes.”
Ward has also been watching the blueprint Jaxon Kohler laid out at Michigan State. Kohler arrived as a non-shooter, didn’t make a three in his first two seasons, and went just 4-of-15 from the free-throw line during that stretch. Then came the work: hundreds of shots a day, enough to push him to the top of the national leaderboard for shot attempts on the practice-tracking software MSU uses.
The results came in stages. Kohler took about one or two threes per game as a junior and hit 37.3% of them. Another offseason turned him into MSU’s most frequent and most accurate long-range threat last season, when he attempted 149 threes, made 38.9%, and finished with 58 makes, the most on the Spartans.
“Jaxon's insane,” Ward said. “I don't think I've ever seen anyone do what Jaxon does, but he gave me the blueprint for it [developing a three-point shot]. I have been following a little bit of what Jaxon does, as far as how he got his shot so good.
“I’m definitely going to probably start to ramp it up a little bit and enhance it now, because it's getting closer to that time of the back end of the summer. That's something important that I'm going to kind of start doing and honing in the next couple of weeks, as far as practice goes.”
For now, Ward says he still doesn’t have Izzo’s full approval to let it fly in games. The free-throw line may be part of what determines when that changes. Even so, he believes the door is opening.
“I’m still in the process of obtaining it [the 'green light'],” he said. “But if I shoot it well enough in practice and show Coach I can really make them, he'll give me a good attitude. That's the goal.”
In Other News...
Tom Izzo May Have Found MSU's Frontcourt Answer Or Another March Worry
Michigan State spent the offseason reworking its frontcourt after the departures of Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper, and Tom Izzo appears to have added size in response. Ethan Taylor and Anton Bonke arrive as the newest options inside, giving the Spartans a different look in a part of the roster that needed reinforcements. For a program that lives on physical play and late-season toughness, how quickly those pieces settle in could matter a lot.
Taylor is expected to be part of the rotation rather than an immediate starter, while Bonke brings the kind of traditional big-man profile that can change the feel of a game if it translates to Big Ten play. The upside is obvious: Michigan State may have found answers for a frontcourt that needed them. The concern is just as clear, because if the adjustment period drags on, the Spartans could still be searching for a true replacement when the games get bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Suddenly Has Real Momentum With A Rising 4-Star Guard
Joshua Tysons path has taken a familiar route for Michigan State fans watching the recruiting board. The four-star combo guard has moved from Lakota West in Ohio to La Lumiere in Indiana, a prep program that has sent plenty of prospects toward East Lansing over the years. Tyson also recently made an unofficial visit to Michigan State, where Tom Izzo extended an offer and added another name to the long list of guards the Spartans are trying to line up for the future.
The next step is already on the calendar, and it gives Michigan State a real chance to deepen the relationship after that first visit. Tyson is planning an official trip, and the Spartans are in the thick of the race with schools like Xavier and Ohio State, which makes every impression matter a little more. There is also a useful wrinkle at La Lumiere, where Tyson will be teaming with fellow Michigan State target Kingston Thomas, giving the Spartans another layer to sell as they try to turn early momentum into a commitment. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan States Newcomers Already Bring A Real Minutes Battle For Izzo
Michigan States offseason overhaul has left Tom Izzo with a roster that looks deeper and more layered than it did a year ago, and the newcomers are already shaping the early conversation about who gets on the floor. With five new scholarship players expected to matter this season, the Spartans have a mix of freshmen and transfers who could change the rotation quickly, especially at the spots where the team needs immediate help and where the competition for roles is already crowded.
Jasiah Jervis and Carlos Medlock Jr. appear best positioned to force their way into meaningful minutes, while the rest of the class may have a longer road to regular playing time. Ethan Taylor and Julius Avent, in particular, are walking into situations where established options make every possession count, and that kind of internal battle is exactly what Izzo wants as Michigan State keeps building toward the bigger picture, including the programs long-term push to be in the mix when Detroit hosts the 2027 Final Four. [Read more 🡒]