Get To Know Your Orange Man - #75, OT Denzel Ward

Name: Denzel Ward

Position: Offensive Tackle

Year: (Redshirt) Freshman

Height: 6'8"

Weight: 331

Hometown: Chicago, Ill.

High School: Neil F. Simeon

2014 Stats: Denzel redshirted last season, so no stats for him. He was a team captain and won a city championship in 2013, however.

2015 Projections: Ward's currently third on the left tackle depth chart, behind Ivan Foy and Michael Lasker, respectively. Chances are he'll only see playing time if there are injuries.

How'd He Get Here: Ward was a Purdue man all the way, despite offers from the likes of Ohio State, Oklahoma and UCLA among others. He ended up reopening his recruiting, and then chose Syracuse over USF and Vanderbilt later on.

What'd Recruiting Sites Say: Three stars from everyone! (247, ESPN, Rivals, Scout)

Interesting Nugget O'Interest: Ward was one of several Chicago-area recruits to arrive on campus for 2014. Aaron Roberts, Chris Slayton and the now-departed Colton Moskal also joined him in the class.

Money Quote: "It's just a football program on the rise." (from Denzel's visit; hooray for optimism!)

Links Of Wonder: Syracuse.com's Nate Mink went behind the scenes with Ward the day he committed to the Orange.

Twitterfeed: @DWard75_

Tweets Of Wonder: Like you, Denzel hates the 76ers' team-building strategy...

That was a dumb pick for the 76ers you have 3 7 footers? That's just unnecessary if you keep Embiid and Noel, I said trade one of the latter

— Denzel Ward (@DWard75_) June 25, 2015

What Does Shafer DeAndre Smith Think Of Him: (from the day he committed to Syracuse)

"When you have depth at certain positions, you can lean more toward a guy you can develop. Denzel is a kid that has the chance to be a really good player. You work them and you develop them."

Let's Get A Good Look Atcha: