Busy Summer for Ward

This summer 2014 prospect Luke Ward has already spent a lot of time traveling to various camps throughout the Southeast. Some of those stops included the campuses of Mississippi State, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

But with each stop and all the travel, the Riverside (Tenn.) High School pro-style quarterback says it is worth every minute of what he gets in return.

"I have enjoyed it all," said the 6-foot-3 and 190-pound Ward, who will also camp at Ohio State later this week. "It is a lot of work but I enjoy it. I am just trying to get noticed and get more interest while improving my game. I am working as hard as I can to impress coaches and to get better."

One of his recent stops was in Starkville at Mississippi State's camp. Ward posted a 4.8 forty time and said he did some things well at Mississippi State.

"I thought I did very well at Mississippi State and I threw the ball well," Ward said. "I was putting it on the receivers and Coach (Les) Koenning said I did good, too. Then Coach (Dan) Mullen came up to me and said he looked forward to watching me more in the future. And my recruiting coach from Mississippi State - Coach (Angelo) Mirando - also gave me positive feedback."

Ward added that was his second unofficial to MSU's campus over the past few months and likes the direction the Bulldogs are headed.

"I actually went down for their spring game this year, too," said Ward. "I can definitely tell their program is on the rise and they are building a new football facility. With Coach Mullen, I can tell he will do good things and he will have them back in a bowl game again this year."

Mississippi State is one of several schools showing Ward interest right now and he said they were among those showing him the most interest.

"I would say Mississippi State, Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Memphis and Middle Tennessee State are showing me the most interest," said Ward. "And I would also put Vanderbilt in there, too."

Naturally, Ward is also using his summer camp experiences to prepare for his upcoming junior season. He said Riverside's offense will have a different look and that is something he is looking forward to this fall.

"We didn't throw the ball much in our first four games last year," said Ward. "But then we went to the spread offense and reached the third round of the playoffs. In those last six games I passed for over 900 yards (combined). But this year we are going to the full spread so that should be a lot of fun."