Sport: Football / Basketball

Hometown: Thomasville, GA

Biography:  Charlie Ward is quite possibly the best college football player ever to play in the NBA. A quarterback at Florida State, he led the Seminoles to a national title in 1993 and was showered with awards, including the Heisman Trophy, the Sullivan Award and the Maxwell Award. He was named College Football Player of the Year by The Sporting News. The 6-2 Ward also played basketball for four years at Florida State, teaming with future NBA players Doug Edwards, Sam Cassell and Bob Sura. In January of his senior year he joined the school's basketball squad, and he played his first game of the season only 15 days after winning MVP honors as a quarterback at the Orange Bowl. In 16 starts as the Seminoles' point guard he averaged college career highs of 10.5 points and 4.9 assists. Ward chose pro basketball over pro football and was taken by the New York Knicks in the first round of the 1994 NBA Draft. Ward continued his development as the Knicks' backup point guard in his third pro season, this time playing behind Chris Childs. He appeared in 79 games, 21 of them as a starter. The Knicks went 17-4 and Ward averaged 8.3 ppg and 6.0 apg in 30.7 mpg in games in which he started. Overall, Ward averaged 5.2 points, 4.1 assists and 1.05 steals in 22.3 minutes, all career-highs. He played in more games and logged more minutes than in his first two seasons combined. Ward ranked second on the Knicks in assists and fourth in steals. Ward's 48 three-pointers also ranked fourth on the team. He led the Knicks in assists 22 times, reaching double figures three times, including a career-high 12 assists in 37 minutes as a starter in a 105-100 victory at Golden State on Nov. 7.