MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (April 24, 2023) – West Virginia University men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins has announced the signing of Jesse Edwards to a grant-in-aid for the 2023-24 academic year.
Edwards, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound forward from Amsterdam, Netherlands, played the last four seasons at Syracuse. He will have one season of eligibility remaining.
This past season at Syracuse, Edwards averaged 14.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He started all 32 games played, averaging 32.6 minutes per game. Edwards shot 59.2 percent from the field, while adding 87 blocks and 44 steals. Edwards had career highs of 27 points to go with 20 rebounds against Wake Forest, 21 rebounds against Bryant and six blocks versus Pitt. He had 26 games in double figures and 16 games with 10 or more rebounds. Edwards was named to the All-ACC Third Team and All-ACC Defensive Team.
As a junior, he started 24 of 24 games before missing the remainder of the season with a broken wrist. Edwards averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while recording 67 blocked shots. He had a season-high 22 points at Miami, 12 rebounds at Florida State and seven blocks at Miami. Edwards played in 18 games as a sophomore and 21 games as a freshman.
Edwards has played in 95 career games with 56 starts. He has scored 836 points, grabbed 568 rebounds, blocked 172 shots and recorded 81 steals. Edwards has made 62.7 percent of his field goal attempts.
Edwards came to the United States in December 2018 and enrolled at IMG Academy in January 2020. He spent the 2017-18 school year at BC Apollo Amsterdam. In 2022, Edwards was a member of the Dutch National Team that competed in the 2022 FIBA Eurobasket. He had 12 points and nine rebounds against the Czech Republic.
“Obviously, we are excited to have Jesse join our basketball program,” Huggins said. “We haven’t had a rim protector like Jesse since Sagaba Konate and Derek Culver. We should be able to turn it up more defensively, knowing that we will have a rim protector like Jesse behind you. He can really score and rebound the ball, and he’s a guy we will be able to throw the ball inside to score consistently.”
Edwards is majoring in biotechnology at Syracuse. An older brother, Kai, played at Northern Colorado and is competing professionally in Europe.
Edwards, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound forward from Amsterdam, Netherlands, played the last four seasons at Syracuse. He will have one season of eligibility remaining.
This past season at Syracuse, Edwards averaged 14.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He started all 32 games played, averaging 32.6 minutes per game. Edwards shot 59.2 percent from the field, while adding 87 blocks and 44 steals. Edwards had career highs of 27 points to go with 20 rebounds against Wake Forest, 21 rebounds against Bryant and six blocks versus Pitt. He had 26 games in double figures and 16 games with 10 or more rebounds. Edwards was named to the All-ACC Third Team and All-ACC Defensive Team.
As a junior, he started 24 of 24 games before missing the remainder of the season with a broken wrist. Edwards averaged 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while recording 67 blocked shots. He had a season-high 22 points at Miami, 12 rebounds at Florida State and seven blocks at Miami. Edwards played in 18 games as a sophomore and 21 games as a freshman.
Edwards has played in 95 career games with 56 starts. He has scored 836 points, grabbed 568 rebounds, blocked 172 shots and recorded 81 steals. Edwards has made 62.7 percent of his field goal attempts.
Edwards came to the United States in December 2018 and enrolled at IMG Academy in January 2020. He spent the 2017-18 school year at BC Apollo Amsterdam. In 2022, Edwards was a member of the Dutch National Team that competed in the 2022 FIBA Eurobasket. He had 12 points and nine rebounds against the Czech Republic.
“Obviously, we are excited to have Jesse join our basketball program,” Huggins said. “We haven’t had a rim protector like Jesse since Sagaba Konate and Derek Culver. We should be able to turn it up more defensively, knowing that we will have a rim protector like Jesse behind you. He can really score and rebound the ball, and he’s a guy we will be able to throw the ball inside to score consistently.”
Edwards is majoring in biotechnology at Syracuse. An older brother, Kai, played at Northern Colorado and is competing professionally in Europe.
