EX-MIDDIE EDWARDS HELPS LEAD PURDUE TO SWEET 16
Ex-Middletown star Edwards helps lead Purdue’s run.
Middletown High School graduate Vincent Edwards has played in the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three years at Purdue, but it wasn’t until last weekend that he got to experience the thrill of advancing.
After suffering first-round losses to Cincinnati in 2015 and Arkansas-Little Rock last year, Edwards carried the Boilermakers to victories against Vermont and Iowa State to send Purdue to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010.
“It feels great,” Edwards said Tuesday afternoon before the team flew to Kansas City, where the fourthseeded Boilermakers will face No. 1 Kansas on Thursday night.
“When we got back to campus, everyone was running up to us saying ‘Good game, keep going, keep pushing,’” Edwards added. “It’s a good feeling overall to help restore the great history in this program and help us get back to the Sweet 16.”
And it’s no doubt satisfying.
Edwards, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, led the team with 21 points in both tournament wins, marking the first time in 102 games he has scored at least 20 in back-to-back contests.
“I just think my teammates are looking for me now that I’m starting to get going, and I’m starting to get a rhythm and a groove,” Edwards said. “And I’m trying to assert myself a little to be more aggressive and help the team out. It’s just that it feels like there’s more and more opportunities now that I’ve really gotten myself going.”
Edwards averages 12.7 points, but his value is rooted in more than scoring. In 34 games this season, he has led the Boilermakers in assists 10 times, points (seven), blocks (seven), steals (three) and rebounds (one).
“He’s done a lot of the things that I would have expected him to be able to do with his versatility and his ability to make the guys around him better,” said Josh Andrews, who coached Edwards for two seasons at Middletown. “With all of his high school accolades, you can’t guarantee that translation to the Big Ten level of play. But he just had that makeup.
“That’s what makes him so dangerous, because he can attack you in so many different ways,” Andrews continued. “It’s hard to take him out of a game. It’s hard to determine where he can be slowed down because he can affect the game in so many ways.”
In addition to the teamhigh 21 points Edwards had in the 80-76 victory against Iowa State on Saturday, Edwards had 10 rebounds and four assists. Freshman teammate Caleb Swanigan had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, making them the first teammates since UNLV’s Stacy Augmon and Larry Johnson in 1990 to each have 20 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
“We’ve rooted him on from a distance,” said Andrews, who just finished a Sweet 16 run of his own in the NAIA Tournament as the head coach at Taylor University.
“He’s one of the special ones that you get to coach, and it’s a blessing,” Andrews added. “He was one of those great players that cared about his teammates, and no doubt it’s that way at Purdue. He’s a guy that brings people together. I’m tickled for him and his success. It’s great for Middletown’s legacy, and I’m certainly proud of him and excited for him and his family.”
Among the family members who were in Milwaukee for Purdue’s first two games where his father Bill, mother Glennetta Patton and older brother Bill Jr.
Bill Sr., a Wright State Hall of Famer, made one trip to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 16 seed and lost 97-54 to No. 1 Indiana in 1993.
“They’re all loving it,” Vincent said. “My brother never got a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, and my dad didn’t make it too far. They’re enjoying it just as much as I am. They’re going to be in Kansas City as well, and it will be good to have them there.”
If Purdue can beat Kansas on Thursday, the Boilermakers will reach their first regional final since 2000.
“Being in this position is unbelievable after going out in the first round my first two years,” Vincent said. “Now we’re playing in the Sweet 16 against Kansas in Kansas City.
“For a small town kid from Middletown, I don’t think you could ask for much more.”