CRAWFORD | Terrence Edwards, tone-setter, expands his role and Louisville's hopes | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Terrence Edwards was the first non-Charleston player to sign on with Pat Kelsey at the University of Louisville. But the two were not strangers. At James Madison, Edwards had faced Kelsey's teams before JMU left the Coastal Athletic Athletic for the Sun Belt.

There was, beneath the surface, a clear mutual respect. When Edwards was looking for a place to play his graduate season of basketball, he felt like Kelsey's rebuilding job at Louisville was a place he would fit.

"When I hit the transfer portal and he reached out to me, I felt like it was a no-brainer," Edwards said. "I used to play against him in the CAA and I knew what he was about, and that he got his guys ready. And I knew Louisville was hungry and he wanted to bring the energy back."

Putting labels on these Louisville players is a losing proposition. As soon as you say Chucky Hepburn is the heart and soul of the team, you have to stop and think, "What about Edwards? What about J'Vonne Hadley, or Reyne Smith?" And on down the line.

So let's not label them. Because what is it if not heart that leads a player, when told that this Louisville team was going to have to become a team whose identity sprang from its defense, buried himself in the defensive side of the game. A player who began to expend so much energy on defense that his scoring dipped?

Edwards began to draw tough defensive assignments, and peppered his coaches with text messages to share insights that he'd gained on guarding his opponent through his own film study.

Always a Facilitator

Louisville's Terrence Edwards throws a pass into the post.
ERIC CRAWFORD

Playing an all-around game was not a new concept for Edwards. He led James Madison in scoring last season, through an upset of Wisconsin (and Hepburn) in the NCAA Tournament, before a loss to Duke.

But Edwards also was a facilitator on that team. He didn't run the offense, but he often triggered it, and he led JMU in assists. That versatility earned him Player of the Year honors in the Sun Belt Conference.

Edwards was a good driver and finished well around the rim at JMU. But this season, he's shooting 10 percentage points higher around the rim. Over the past four games, he has averaged 21.5 points and 4.3 assists per game, while shooting 51.6 percent from the field (32 of 62) and 45.8 percent from three-point range (11 of 24). At the same time, he's delivered defensively.

"He's playing his best basketball of the year," Kelsey said this week, after Edwards was named ACC Player of the Week. "And I think he's played really, really good basketball all year long. "We all know his calling card is his ability to put that ball in the basket. He's doing that as well as anybody right now. But the big story, I think for so long, is just how he's upped the level of his defense. And I really think it set the tone for the rest of our team to raise the level of their defense, and that's really been the story to me of the last two months."

A Tone-Setter

Edwards is a tone-setter. The affection he inspires among teammates was evident recently when he told them his girlfriend is expecting, that he's going to be a father. On a recent Floyd Street Media podcast interview with Sidney Depp, he said the team threw him a surprise baby shower. It's not the kind of thing you imagine a bunch of guys in a basketball program doing. But this program, thanks to Kelsey and his staff, has become the kind of place where it's cool to care.

"It was something that I never experienced, just the love that (Kelsey) shows to us and the guys, we all just love each other," Edwards said. "He built this program on love. So, you have to be a good guy around him. You can't really be, like, your own guys and be stuck in your ways to be around him, because he'll call you out."

Kelsey, clearly, has made an impact.

Edwards calls him "a second father figure to me."

"You just know, when he comes around, you're just going to smile, especially with me, because he's about to do something that's just outrageous, that's just going to make you pay attention to him," Edwards said. "But he's a great coach. He's just so fun to be around. Great guy. Great energy. Always going to hold you accountable no matter what. And I think that's one of the best things I needed, as far as going into my last year, to go into the real world, just being able to be held accountable for everything, even off of the court."

Edwards got his nickname, "Fat," as a child. Because he was heavy. But even after growth spurts in high school, the nickname stuck. He can't get rid of it. Some things stick.

Short Stay, Long Impact

His contributions to Louisville's program, in just a short time, have stuck. When Louisville was losing, four out of five games, he was vocal publicly, vowing that the team would keep working, and that it would stay the course and be a good team. After Louisville won at Pittsburgh, his locker room declaration that, "This ain't the same 'Ville," was caught on video, and caught on with fans. From a kid who was lightly recruited out of high school after having to miss his junior season because he transferred schools and was ruled ineligible, he's now leaving his mark on a storied program in his one season here.

Louisville's players put a good bit of pressure on themselves early in the season, not just because so many of them were working to get back to the NCAA Tournament, but because they adopted the mission of getting Louisville back.

Now, on the cusp of that, Edwards said the key is to maintain focus and not peek ahead.

"Just the grit we play with, the fight and intensity and how hard we play," he said. "I've never really been on a team where nobody cares who scores."

Edwards is one of a good many Louisville players who has stretched his role to help this team become the most improved program in NCAA Division I basketball this season.

"With all these injuries, everybody's had to step up," Kelsey said. "... Everybody's had to morph and bob and weave a little bit. ... But Terrence, it just puts a smile on my face, man, when you bring up his name, because he's having such a great year. He's an extraordinary young man. He is such a team player. He is such a dog and such a competitor, and has such a toughness and grit about him. ... That's really been the story to me of the last two months, whatever it's been six or seven weeks, the winning streak, and obviously we had a tough loss at Georgia Tech, but just the way we've played, and we're playing our best basketball of the year, and a big reason is the improvement of our defense. And I think it starts with Terrance."

And nobody is in much of a hurry for it to end.