West Virginia center and former longtime Syracuse player Jesse Edwards has found his NBA home after going undrafted, signing a two-way contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the WVU basketball Twitter account announced Thursday evening.
Edwards enters the pros after playing his final season at West Virginia in a real tough situation following the Bob Huggins resignation and the roster fallout from that saga. However, Edwards produced his best season yet, averaging 15.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks this past season.
His blocks per game exceeded 2.5 per game during his final two seasons with the Orange since he was the final anchor of a Jim Boeheim zone before the longtime Syracuse coach called it quits ahead of the 2023-24 season. He even averaged a double-double with 14.5 points and 10.3 rebounds to go with 2.7 blocks per game in 2023, his last year with the Orange.
Clearly, Edwards was always an elite rim protector, falling in line with the typical towering and lanky Boeheim big man, but he also really honed in his offensive game, emerging as a lead option in his final two years of college hoops.
Now, he’ll enter the pros with some marketable skills.
What NBA Draft experts are saying about Jesse Edwards
The folks at NBA.com have broken down many of the prospects in this year’s draft class, including Edwards. Here was their analysis of the veteran center:
“At just under seven feet tall, Edwards has a large frame, which he uses to excel at clearing space on post-ups, setting screens and grabbing rebounds. He is not a natural scorer but has great energy, allowing him to score on putbacks and lobs. Edwards has good patience and decent footwork in the paint but lacks an elite touch around the rim. He was able to block shots at a high rate and didn’t commit many fouls in college, showing good defensive discipline, but there’ll likely be a learning curve on both ends of the court at the professional level.”
Originally from the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Edwards arrived at the college level via IMG Academy in Florida. Out of high school, he ranked as the No. 179 overall player and No. 29 center in the 2019 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
After starting in Amsterdam, winding through Florida, up to Syracuse and then into Morgantown, Edwards hoops career now hits another new stop: Minneapolis!
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