The Keene State College Men’s Basketball team has had its ups and downs this season. However, they have received a solid play from a much-welcomed newcomer.

Freshman forward Jaquel Edwards has burst on the scene this season for the Owls. The Manchester, Conn., native is averaging 8.9 points per game, as of Feb. 17,  and has averaged 7.1 rebounds per game. His increased level of play has earned him a spot in the starting lineup as the team’s power forward.

He was also named Little East Rookie of the Week for the week of February 3.

During that span of games, Edwards averaged 14.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. In addition, he shot a little over 72 percent from the field. His best performance of the week came against Southern Maine when he scored a career high 15 points and he grabbed 17 rebounds.

In the same week against Plymouth State, he scored 14 points and had ten rebounds.

In the beginning of the season in the first four games, Edwards only played 20 minutes combined. Currently, Edwards is averaging almost 22 minutes per game.

According to KSC Men’s Basketball Coach Rob Colbert, Edwards has been a great surprise for the team and he is so valuable.

“He has profound value in so many categories or areas. He’s been a very pleasant surprise in terms of his production,” Colbert said.

Brian Cantore / Photo Editor:
Freshman forward Jaquel Edwards goes up for a shot in a recent game against Southern Maine on Saturday, February 1, in the Spaulding Gymnasium.

Edwards took a year off last year after he graduated high school in 2012. Edwards said he worked last year at a movie theatre and took it off to get his grades up. “I just worked and played ball. I made sure I stayed in shape,” Edwards said.  According to associate head coach Kevin Justice, who recruited Edwards, a year off for an athlete can mean anything. “When an athlete takes a year off, even a student who comes here and gets injured and has to take a year off, you never know what is going to come back,” Justice said.

However, Justice has been pleased with the way things have worked out for Edwards. “I’ve been encouraged with his development as fast as it’s come. From day one, when he stepped into the gym until now, he has really come a long way. The best part is there is still a ceiling that is way higher than where he is right now,” Justice said.

Justice said Edwards was a recruit he had in mind for a few years and he had seen Edwards at a recruiting event. However, he could not get his name and therefore was left in the dark until he visited a Manchester High School game for the KSC Admissions Office. Justice said he talked with a school staff member who was able to direct him to Edwards. “One of the guidance counselors at the school who is a fan of all of the athletics goes, ‘I think I know who you are talking about,’” Justice said.  After that, Justice said he was able to get in contact with the Edwards’ high school coach and with Edwards himself.

“It was a shot in the dark, it was lucky he wasn’t somewhere else at that point. I wish I could say it was all me. I just took a shot in the dark at a kid I remembered that I really liked and it just worked out,” Justice said.

Edwards said Justice was very helpful during the whole process, “He was very supportive of me, he was the one who believed in me from the start that I could play—even though I took a year off—that I had the skills to do it at this level,” Edwards said.

Edwards commented on preparation for next year and said, “I didn’t know what to expect, honestly. I was kind of just going with the flow. I expected to work hard and work for my spot. I knew nothing was going to be easy.”

This year has been a little different for Edwards as he has had to learn a new position. “He’s more of a perimeter player due to unforeseen circumstances and because of what we needed, that’s where we put him,” Colbert said. The position change has not affected Edwards because he just does what he is told. “He never once had a problem with it. That’s a credit to him,” Colbert said. Edwards added, “I had to adjust. I didn’t even play in the beginning of the season because of it. They switched me over and I had to learn the new plays. I had to get used to it.”

Edwards said he puts in on average around six to eight hours a week of extra practice along with the team’s regular practices. Edwards spoke of a normal day, “Yesterday before practice, I got to the gym two hours before to shoot around and lifted. You need to put in extra time as a basketball player,” Edwards said. In addition, Edwards is a very coachable player, according to Colbert. Colbert said, “He is ‘yes sir, no sir’, asks questions when he doesn’t understand something. He is always in the gym.” At the time of the interview Edwards was in the gym. “We practice at six tonight, he is in the gym right now. That says a lot about him,” Colbert said.

Edwards’ hard work and improved play is being noticed by his teammates. Junior guard Tom Doyle said, “He’s obviously shown improvement. He is stepping up in big games and scoring points,” Doyle said. Doyle said Edwards’ best ability is getting rebounds, something that the coaching staff loves. “There are two different types of rebounders. There are guys who get the balls that come to them and there are guys who go get the rebound. He’s one of those guys who gets the rebound,” Colbert said.

Edwards knows he has set the bar high this season, and the pressure to perform at the same high level does not faze him. “The only pressure that I have is letting myself down. I’m just going to continue to do what I have to do on the court. Just playing hard. If you play hard and work hard good things will happen,” Edwards said.

Brian Clemmenson can be contacted at bclemmenson@keene-equinox.com