The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Edwards chooses UConn
Fivestar Canadian prospect latest addition to Auriemma’s stellar 2020 recruiting class
Geno Auriemma looked north of the border to find another prized prospect for next year’s recruiting class.
On Thursday, UConn received a commitment from fivestar wing Aaliyah Edwards of Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto.
Edwards, who announced her choice from her high school via Instagram Live, is the No. 26 player in the Class of 2020, according to ESPN.
She held offers from several other marquee programs, including Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, Notre Dame and Oregon, but found the opportunity to play for the 11time national champions too great to pass up. She notified Auriemma of her decision last weekend while on campus for First Night.
And then she cried. “It was a great feeling just to tell him,” Edwards told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I actually just broke down because it’s been a lot going through the process. A lot of decisions that you really don’t think you need to make are necessary to make.
“Just for him to him to kind of give me that hug back and embrace me, and just say, ‘I got you
and I’m glad that we got you, and we’re going to do magic together,’ I was just really grateful.”
With Edwards’ addition, the Huskies now have 11 scholarships filled for next season. She joins a class that already featured two top25 prospects — No. 1 overall recruit Paige Bueckers and No. 21 Mir McLean — as well as Croatian guard Nika Muhl and Piath Gabriel, a 6foot5 forward from New Hampshire.
Edwards’ upside is immense. Last month, after having made her national team debut at the age of 16, Edwards put on an impressive performance at the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. She scored nine points in 18 minutes during a loss to the United States in the gold medal game.
“She’s collegeready, not just from a talent standpoint but maturity, her approach to the game, her commitment level to her team and the coaches,” her high school coach, Marlo Davis, said. “She’s a coach’s dream.”
UConn began its recruitment of Edwards, 17, in March when assistant coach Jasmine Lister texted Edwards’ mother, Jackie. That in itself, Edwards said, was eyeopening. Auriemma then picked up his pursuit at the Final Four in Tampa, Fla., where Edwards was playing at the Next Generation minicamp.
“It was a great moment for me … but as soon as I got that text, I knew I had to get into the gym the next day,” Edwards said with a laugh. “If I’m being recruited by UConn, I have to up my game, my development on the court physically and also mentally.”
In the months to follow, Auriemma made a positive impression on not only Edwards, but also her family.
“I think the thing that stands out for us with Coach Geno is he cares about his athletes, he cares about the well
being of the girls, he is very respectful and embracing of a family,” Jackie said. “They’re recruiting Aaliyah’s family. It’s not just about the game. Of course it is about basketball, but he just strikes me as a family man. We could see that rock star side of what a lot of people talked about before we started the process. But we really saw a family man that has a great deal of respect for the girls.”
Standing 62, Edwards is the type of of athletic, highvolume scorer that Auriemma can use in a variety of ways. In fact, Davis said that Edwards’ versatility reminds him of a recent former Husky — twotime AllAmerican Napheesa Collier.
Edwards, after spending her first two years of high school at Frontenac Secondary School in Kingston, Ontario, averaged 22 points per game as a junior under Davis. Her team finished undefeated.
“Some days, depending on the matchup, she could play the 4, and then depending on other matchups she could be on the wing, taking them off the dribble,” Davis said. “She’s a monster in transition. She’s also a track star.”