Allen Eugene Edwards (born December 16, 1975) is an American basketball coach and former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He is best known for winning two

NCAA championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

as a player. Edwards was formerly the head basketball coach at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

Playing career

Edwards, a 6'5"

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

from

Miami Senior High School Miami Senior High School, also known as Miami High School, is a public high school located at 2450 SW 1st Street in Miami, Florida, and operated by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Founded in 1903, it is one of the oldest high schools in Miam ...

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, went to

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

to play for coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

. Edwards played for the Wildcats from 1994 to 1998, a period where the program went 132–16, won three

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) championships and two national championships. Edwards played a reserve role for the Wildcats on their 1995–96 national title team, averaging 3.3

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

. With the departure of

Tony Delk Tony Lorenzo Delk (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player and college assistant coach. He last served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team. During his playing days, he w ...

, Edwards then moved into the starting lineup as a junior, averaging 8.6 points, 3.2

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and 2.9

assists per game In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by field goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due ...

. Kentucky again reached the NCAA championship game, but were upset by

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. As a senior in 1997–98, Edwards averaged 9.2 points per game and led the Wildacts to their third straight NCAA title game appearance. This time, Kentucky beat

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

to win their second title in three years. After the conclusion of his college career, Edwards went undrafted in the

1998 NBA draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the Tor ...

. He instead went to the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

, where he played for the

Rockford Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red R ...

. He split the 1998–99 season between the Lightning and the

Dakota Wizards The Dakota Wizards were an American professional basketball team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. They played in the NBA Development League from 2006 until 2012. After the 2011–12 season, the team relocated to Santa Cruz, California, and now ...

of the

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and ...

. He played the next two seasons with the Cincinnati Stuff of the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

, until the league ceased operations in 2001.

Coaching career

Edwards returned to Kentucky in 2002 to both complete his degree and to serve as an unofficial assistant/manager to his former coach

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach who last coached the men's basketball team at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, t ...

with the

2002–03 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team The 2002–03 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented University of Kentucky. The head coach was Tubby Smith, who was in his sixth season as the Wildcats head coach. For the program, it was the 100th season of Kentucky Wildcats bas ...

. He then joined the staff of former Wildcat

Kyle Macy Kyle Paul Macy (born April 9, 1957) is an American basketball commentator. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball, Purdue Boilermakers and Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball, Kentucky Wildcats, and spent seven y ...

Morehead State Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...

as a full-time assistant coach in 2003 and remained for three seasons. From 2006 to 2009, Edwards was an assistant at VCU under Anthony Grant. Edwards then was an assistant at

Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

in 2009–10 under

Pat Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (born January 5, 1952) is an American former college basketball coach and player. He was previously the men's basketball coach at Towson University, Iona College (New York), Iona College, Florida State University, DePaul ...

and

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

in 2010–11 under Ken McDonald, Edwards was hired to coach Larry Shyatt's staff at

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in 2011. He was announced as the 21st head coach at the University of Wyoming on March 21, 2016. In his first year as head coach, Wyoming went 23–15 and took home the 2017 CBI championship. On March 9, 2020 it was announced that Edwards had been let go as the head basketball coach of the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

. Edwards coached the team for four years posting an overall record of 60–76 and a conference record of 24–49. On April 8, 2020, Edwards was announced as a part of Stan Johnson's first coaching staff at

Loyola Marymount Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

Personal life

Edwards is the younger brother of former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Doug Edwards Douglas Edwards (born January 21, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round (15th pick overall) of the 1993 NBA draft. Edwards played for the Hawks and Vancouver Grizzli ...

and of former

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

player

Steve Edwards Steve, Steven or Stephen Edwards may refer to: *Steve Edwards (American football) (born 1979), American football player for the Arizona Rattlers *Steve Edwards (field hockey) (born 1986), New Zealand Olympic field hockey player * Steve Edwards (phy ...

.Steve Edwards 1992-1996
/ref>

Head coaching record

References

External links

Wyoming profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Allen 1975 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Florida Basketball players from Miami Cincinnati Stuff players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Morehead State Eagles men's basketball coaches Rockford Lightning players Shooting guards Small forwards Sports coaches from Miami Towson Tigers men's basketball coaches VCU Rams men's basketball coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches Wyoming Cowboys basketball coaches Miami Senior High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen