David Edwards (December 2, 1971 – March 24, 2020) was an American basketball player. A 5'10"

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, he played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for Georgetown and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

before going on to play professionally in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In 1996, he set the Úrvalsdeild karla assists single game record with 18.

High school career

Edwards was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

and moved to New York City before high school, living in public housing. and played at Andrew Jackson High School under coach Chuck Granby. At Jackson he averaged 41 points per game as a senior. His 947 points during that season was a New York City scoring record. It was a

New York State Public High School Athletic Association The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) is the governing body of interscholastic sports for most public schools in New York (state), New York outside New York City.http://www.nysphsaa.org/ ''nysphsaa.org'', accesse ...

for one day that Edwards set on February 17, 1989 surpassing

Curtis Aiken Curtis Aiken Sr. is an American former college basketball player who is a radio analyst for Pitt Panthers men's basketball team. He was a two-time captain at Pitt who scored 1,200 points for the team and held the school single-season field goa ...

924 single-season record in a playoff loss before Marcus Whitfield reached 958 in his 21st game, a playoff win for Burgard Vocational High School on February 18. He was considered to be one of the best players to ever come out of

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. His ability led to debate as to whether or not he was better than future NBA player Kenny Anderson. Edwards played streetball at

Rucker Park Greg Marius Court at Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court at the border of Harlem and the Coogan's Bluff section of Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just east of the forme ...

and was known to impress the crowd. He committed to Georgetown over offers from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

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 ...

College career

Edwards played initially at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, where he averaged 5.4 points per game as a freshman. He posted 14 assists in this first game. Through his first 12 games Edwards led the Hoyas with 89 assists. He experienced disagreements with coach John Thompson and transferred. This disagreement was based on Thompson focusing on big men such as

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

and

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (June 25, 1966 – September 30, 2024) was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo ...

, and Edwards later admitted was immature and was not "a complete player." Edwards transferred to play at

under

Kermit Davis Kermit John Davis Jr. (born December 14, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head coach for the Ole Miss Rebels from 2018 to 2023. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Middle Tennessee for 16 seasons. His he ...

, but Davis resigned after one season due to recruiting violations. Davis was replaced as head coach by

Tony Barone Anthony Andrew Barone Sr. (July 20, 1946June 25, 2019) was an American basketball coach and scout. A native of Chicago, he was head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Barone was appointed as the team's ...

, and Edwards needed time to adjust to the coach's structured offense. As a senior, he averaged 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. He was one of six players to post a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

on consecutive games on March 5, and March 10, 1994. His 265 assists as a senior remain a school record. During his senior season at Texas A&M, he was the runner-up for the

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...

, given to the best senior in the country under 6-feet tall. Edwards was a three-time All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

selection. During his career at Texas A&M, he tallied 1,167 points, 602 assists and 228 steals, and he was the school's total assists and steals leader until 2016 when he was surpassed by Alex Caruso. Edwards maintained a 6.5 Assists college average while Caruso had a 4.7 assists college average.

Professional career

Lithuania

Edwards began his professional basketball career with BC Šilutė in the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

during the 1995–1996 season where he averaged 23.2 points, 8.7 assists and 4.4 steals per game, leading the league in assists and steals while coming in second in the league in scoring.

Iceland

He signed with KR in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla in October 1996, replacing Champ Wrencher. In his first game on 17 October, he had 22 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in a 79–79 tie against ÍA in the Icelandic Company Cup. In the second game, he had 12 points, 13 assists and 7 steals in KR's 82–79 victory. He helped KR to the finals of the Company Cup in November where they lost to

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njar ...

101–107. In the game, Edwards had 25 points, 10 assists and 5 steals. In his six games in the Company Cup, he averaged 18.2 points and 10.5 assists. On 8 December, Edwards set a Úrvalsdeild record with 18 assists in a 88–91 loss against ÍR, breaking Jón Kr. Gíslason's old record of 17 assists set in 1991. The record stood until 21 November 2022, when it was broken by Vincent Malik Shahid. On 15 December, he scored a season high 38 points in a 106–111 loss against

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town in the Southern Peninsula district of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya (a type of flat-topped, steep-sided volcano). It is one of the few towns with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work ...

in the Úrvalsdeild. Following the game, he had a heated discussion with referee Helgi Bragason which ended with Helgi disqualifying him from the game which automatically resulted in a 1-game suspension. Following the Christmas break, Edwards was replaced by Geoff Herman. He appeared in 8 games in the Úrvalsdeild, averaging 20.8 points, 10.4 assists and 4.3 steals per game.

Post-basketball career

Edwards served as a recreation manager at the non-profit organization Elmcor Youth and Services Activities. He coached basketball at

The Mary Louis Academy The Mary Louis Academy (TMLA) is an all-girls private Catholic college-preparatory academy located in Jamaica Estates, Queens, New York City. TMLA's campus encompasses eight buildings situated on private grounds at the top of one of the highes ...

in Queens.

Personal life and death

His father, Dave Edwards was a 4-year player and a 3-year captain at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...

. He had two sons, David and Corey. Corey played basketball at

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

and coaches at

Montverde Academy Montverde Academy is a private college preparatory school in Montverde, Florida, United States, located in the Greater Orlando area. The school is widely known for its athletic programs, particularly soccer and basketball. History The school ...

. Edwards died in Queens, New York of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on March 24, 2020. He was just 48 years old.

References

External links

David Edwards College Stats – College Basketball at Sports-Reference.comProfile
at

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com, also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provides coverage of every professional and semi-professional club basketball league from around the world, as well as many amateur level lea ...

Úrvalsdeild statistics
at

Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...

LKL statistics
at LKL {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, David 1971 births 2020 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American men's basketball players BC Šilutė basketball players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players KR men's basketball players Point guards Basketball players from Queens, New York Street basketball players Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) players 20th-century American sportsmen