Former Hartville standout basketball player Ryan Ward was recently named the 2020 recipient of the Cotton Fitzsimmons Award at Hannibal-LaGrange University.
Ward finished his senior season for the Trojans averaging 12.4 point and 4.5 rebounds per game. His season was reportedly limited due to a mid-season injury he was unable to fully recover from.
Ward is a two-time academic All-Conference recipient as well as an NAIA and NCCAA Scholar-Athlete. He was selected to the Honorable Mention All-American Midwest Conference in 2019. He finished his HLGU career scoring 522 points in just two seasons, after transferring in from a junior college.
His brother Wyatt Ward is a sophomore for the Trojans.
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Fitzsimmons
Cotton Fitzsimmons played basketball at HLG when it was a Junior College. He later became a coach in the NBA and was named Coach of the Year two times. He won 832 games as a coach.