NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

Goal No. 9: ELIMINATE MISTAKES. Don’t beat yourself.

#9 Treshaun Ward

Redshirt Senior | 5-10 | 194 lbs. | Plant City, Florida

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Running Back
• Previous College: Florida State University
• Projection: Co-Starter
• Status: On Scholarship

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Treshaun Ward (b. March 26, 2001) is a transfer running back from Florida State who is majoring in criminology and looks set to split starters’ carries with DJ Giddens in 2023.

(To get quickly oriented, check out his 10-minute highlight video or read this great piece.)

After walking on, Ward appeared in two games for the Seminoles in 2019 as he retained his redshirt. He rushed 10 times for 44 yards in the Sun Bowl against Arizona State and made his collegiate debut against Alabama State.

During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Ward saw time in two games as a redshirt freshman, rushing twice for 54 yards and a 26-yard touchdown against Duke, while he hauled in a 6-yard reception against the Blue Devils and also played against NC State.

In 2021, he earned a full-ride scholarship and played in all 12 games, totaling 515 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 81 carries as his 6.36 yards per carry ranked first in the Atlantic Coast Conference among rushers with at least four carries per game.

Ward tallied 21 receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown, all career bests, and he recorded a season-high 77 yards at North Carolina, which topped his previous high of 76 yards with a touchdown in the season opener against Notre Dame.

He also rushed for touchdowns against Louisville, UMass and Florida, and tallied a career-long rush of 65 yards as well as set a career high with five receptions against Syracuse.

Ward had a career-high 56 receiving yards against Miami, which included a career-long reception of 30 yards, while the lone receiving touchdowns of his career came at Wake Forest, a game in which he had 34 receiving yards.

He also returned two kickoffs on the year — going for 26 yards at Clemson and 20 yards against NC State — and one punt, resulting in an 11-yard return at Clemson.

Ward then played in 10 games in 2022 with six starts while battling some injuries (that also limited him this spring), and he finished as the team’s second-leading rusher with 649 yards and seven touchdowns on 95 carries en route to All-ACC honorable mention accolades.

He began the season with a career-high 127 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries against Duquesne, and later tied his career high with two touchdowns against both Louisiana and Oklahoma, the latter being in the Cheez-It Bowl when he rushed for 81 yards.

He also topped the 100-yard mark at Louisville, rushing for 126 yards, which included a season-long rush of 46 yards, and had a career-high 16 rushes against LSU.

Ward tallied 87 yards on 13 carries against Wake Forest in addition to catching two passes for 14 yards and finished the season as a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy.

He enters 2023 on the Doak Walker Award watch list and was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year by the league’s coaches, so to say expectations are high is an understatement.

Ward prepped under head coach Jayson Roberts at Tampa Bay Tech, where he was viewed as the 66th-best running back in the nation for the Class of 2019 by 247Sports, while ESPN ranked him No. 97.

He tallied consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons to close out his prep career, which included 12 games of more than 100 yards, and combined for 2,390 yards and 29 touchdowns as a junior and senior, while he caught 19 passes for 135 yards.

Ward also returned six kickoffs for 275 yards (for a 45.8-yard average) in high school.

Prior to his transfer to K-State, he walked on at Florida State after de-committing from Maryland and also over scholarship offers from Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida International, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Marshall, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Purdue, South Florida, Toledo, Tulane and Virginia Tech.

Here are some fun thoughts about Ward’s potential from his new quarterback, Will Howard:

I love Treshaun. He can make some pretty dirty cuts.

And from his new position coach, running backs coach Brian Anderson:

You see his change of direction and burst and speed off the edge.

And from head coach Chris Klieman:

The kid is a special talent.

And from teammate and tight end Ben Sinnott:

The first thing that comes to mind? How quick he is.

You get the idea, right? Time to get hyped for this guy! (Read more hype here.)