It seems like more than three and a half years ago that juniors Aleem Ford and D’Mitrik Trice came to the University of Wisconsin, extending their career together from IMG Academy.
I had the pleasure of witnessing the two inseparable friends from the start, as I happened to sit behind them in a large theater class.
They were just freshmen in Madison, and although they sat in front of the lecture hall and enjoyed to make people around them laugh, one thing stood out: they were incredibly close, and no moment would get too big for them as long as they had each other.
Some of those moments came early on for Trice, who played in 37 games his true freshman season, for a team that was seconds away from an Elite Eight appearance.
But for Ford, that moment took a little longer to get there, waiting behind long-time Wisconsin starters like Nigel Hayes and Khalil Iverson.
After a redshirt season, playing as a partial starter as a freshman and then not starting any games last season, Ford is unquestionably a starter for the 2019-2020 Badgers, and needs to play a pretty big role on both ends for this team to be successful.
So far, he has done just that, averaging 11.5 points and five rebounds per game.
Ford has consistently shown flashes of his game since he arrived on campus, but now looks to turn those flashes into full games, on both ends of the floor.
Coming into the year, Ford worked on his post game, and got some help from UW’s all-time leading scorer, assistant coach Alando Tucker.
“I saw he had a lot of potential. He has so much potential, and it’s just dedicating yourself to get better on and off the court every day,” Tucker said about Ford.
“That can be quite a task, and I think he has welcomed it though, as I have truly seen it everyday, from the court to the classroom.”
From watching Ford at practice nearly four years ago, it was clear that there would be some impressive moments, but also some growing pains, especially with his height but a smaller frame early on.
Aleem knew that with the departures of Iverson and All-American Ethan Happ, there would be some open spots for playing time, and more importantly, the need for production, especially on the inside.
“After last season, I knew that was something that I wanted to work on, and something that I took seriously over the summer to get stronger,” Ford said.
“I tried to take care of my body that way, and do everything I could skill and development wise to put myself in that position.”
From a coaching standpoint, as well as that of a former player that could score on the wing and down low, Tucker had an interesting perspective on Ford from his transition into today.
“He’s more committed. The commitment and the dedication…I think the first few years you kind of try to get settled and figure things out, and I think this year he has come in much more committed, and has shown that every day,” Tucker said.
At 3-1 heading into Thursday’s matchup with in-state rival UW-Green Bay, the Badgers have shown improvement through each game this season, specifically down low and on the defensive end.
On the other side of the ball, Ford is third on the team in scoring, and also third in rebounding.
Ford and Trice are finally starting together, and Aleem feels like it has all been a pretty smooth transition to get to this point.
“Coming in as freshmen together, you’ve known us since we’ve been here and have seen it all,” Ford said.
“Just seeing how we have grown together has been awesome, on and off the court, with leadership and chemistry, has been really nice.”
Not surprisingly, Trice feels the same way, and that has done a lot for this squad early on.
“For me and Aleem, we’ve been roommates and teammates for four or five years now, and I think that chemistry really helps build and build over time,” Trice said.
“We’ve both put work in, and I think that and the chemistry has been a big part of our success over the last few years.”
Ford’s growth and maturity have shown in multiple ways early in the 2019-2020 campaign, whether it be on the court, in the weight room, or the in the classroom.
With his long time teammate next to him, Ford and the Badgers will look to continue their success, heading into conference season just around the corner.