Jerod Davanta Ward (born May 5, 1976) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, who played shooting guard, small forward,

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

and center positions. Currently, Ward is a TEDx & Motivational Keynote Speaker, Consultant, Coach and College Basketball Analyst for networks including

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and Spectrum Sports.

High school

Ward was the number one recruit in the nation winning the Naismith Prep Player of the Year award coming out of Clinton, Mississippi in 1994. The 1994 McDonald's All-American, First Team '' Parade'' & '' Slam'' magazine, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', ''Basketball Times'' All-American scored 2,652 points with more than 800 rebounds in three varsity seasons at Clinton High School. As a senior, Ward averaged 29.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for the 26–3 Arrows. He posted 51 & 49 points games along with a 19-rebound game in his senior year campaign. As a junior, Ward averaged 29.5 points and 9.3 rebounds while leading Clinton Arrows to the Class 5A state championship; averaging 33.5 points in the state in tournament. As a sophomore, Ward averaged 27.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. He was coached by Joel Boone. In the 2009–10 season Ward was honored by Clinton High School retiring his number 32 jersey.

College career

In 1994, Ward signed with the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

and comprised part of its highly touted Fab Five II that included Travis Conlan, Maceo Baston, Willie Mitchell, and Maurice Taylor. Though plagued by injuries at Michigan, Ward ranked fifth in career three-point field goals.

Professional career

The six foot nine inch, 235 lbs forward has played for the Grand Rapids Hoops of the CBA, In 1998–99, he averaged 14.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game and was named to the CBA All-Rookie team. He also played for CB Granada in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Cibona Zagreb (

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) and was part of the Toronto Raptors training camp in 2002.

References