OMAHA, Neb. — Hason Ward felt adrift. Stranded in what most people consider a paradise. Unable to join the Iowa State team he longed to play for two summers ago as he tried to cut through maddening, visa-based red tape.
That meant the dynamic 6-9, 230-pound Cyclone forward needed to get creative when it came to his workout routine, but laboring under the unrelenting heat in his homeland, Barbados, made getting into shape — and maintaining a healthy weight — difficult.
“I was on FaceTime with (ISU’s director of strength and conditioning) Pete Link,” said Ward, who hopes to come off the bench to help the second-seeded Cyclones beat 15th-seeded South Dakota State in Thursday’s 6:35 p.m. first-round NCAA tournament game at the CHI Health Center Arena. “I was doing workouts on FaceTime with him — body weight (stuff), I had to run, different stuff like that. He was trying to keep me engaged with the team as much as possible and I just couldn’t wait to get back and be a part of the team, for real.”
Ward’s journey to ISU (27-7) included a stop at Virginia Commonwealth as well as the visa-related ordeal. But now that he’s in his second and final season with the Cyclones, he’s become one of the team’s major X-factors off the bench. Ward notched an ISU career-high 13 points in last Saturday’s Big 12 tournament title-clinching 69-41 win over top-seeded Houston. He also soared for one of his trademark alley-oop dunks, which he seems capable of springing on opponents at any time.
“He’s a human highlight reel,” fellow senior big man Tre King said of Ward. “Anytime it’s up there, I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s definitely coming down with it.’ It just speaks to the trust that we have in each other just knowing that wherever we throw it, he’s gonna go get it. It’s kind of an exciting, like, big blow, like in boxing. It’s just demoralizing to the other team.”
The Cyclones will need all their bigs — Ward, King and Robert Jones — to control the boards and challenge shots vigorously against the Jackrabbits (22-12), who feature four players who average double figures in scoring, led by junior guard Zeke Mayo.
“They’re a really good team,” said ISU head coach T.J. Otzelberger, who has led his team to a Sweet 16 and three NCAA Tournament appearances in his three seasons at the helm. “They get up for the challenge. They get up for the big game.”
So does Ward, whose penchant for high-energy dunks and blocked shots has endeared him to Cyclone fans while simultaneously striking fear into his opponents.
“I really think Hason has continued to take steps forward and evolved because he didn’t have the same opportunity at the start,” Otzelberger said. “He’s someone that I continue to say I know his best is still yet to come this season. He’s still got a lot left to give.”
That all ties back to his arduous start. Ward needed to work out alone, guided by Link via his phone. There are two indoor gyms in his home parish of St. Thomas, he said, and one of his old coaches opened that up for him a couple of times. But most of the time he did pushups, chin-ups, and other body weight-bearing work in hot and humid conditions outdoors, sweating profusely, and buoyed only by the occasional ocean breeze until he finally joined the Cyclones at the beginning of August of 2022.
“I had to play catch up,” Ward said. “I was sweating and losing weight. When I got here, I had to put a lot of weight on. I put like 20 pounds on in two months and then I was trying to maintain for the rest of the season.”
With Link’s help, Ward did just that.
“It started in Barbados when he was there by himself, but when he got onto campus he really took to, ‘Hey, man, I need to get my body right to be able to play in this league’” Link said. “So he did a great job as far as weight room, as far as taking care of his body, as far as eating. He had to eat a ton. Shakes, dining hall. We would have a goal weight for him every week that he would have to hit and to his credit, he hit it every week.”
Now he’s entering his stretch run as a Cyclone, determined to prolong the last leg of a journey once-delayed that’s now only missing a happy ending.
“You don’t even know the half,” Ward said with a smile. “I’m very grateful to be here right now. I still can’t believe it, man. It’s crazy. I’m just happy to be here.”
