The Edge is growing
NBL Canada expansion team announces it has signed two big men, a well-travelled veteran and a new Canadian
The St. John’s Edge’s roster is getting bigger … and taller.
The Edge, who are set to begin their first-ever National Basketball League of Canada campaign in 24 days, have been announcing players for their inaugural training camp roster bit by bit over the last week. The first revelations were players primarily listed as guards, but the Edge selected two 6-8 forwards in Sunday’s NBLC draft, and on Tuesday, the team tweeted it has signed 6-9 veteran power forward Vernon Goodridge and 6-10 Canadian Rudolphe Joly.
The 33-year-old Goodridge, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who played for NCAA Division I schools Mississippi State and Lasalle, was not selected in the National Basketball Association draft, but was a late cut from the training camp of the NBA’S Golden State Warriors in 2005. He played for two years in the NBA’S top development circuit (then known as the D-league, now the G-league) before embarking on an international career that has literally taken him halfway around the globe.
The 240-pound Goodridge has played for teams in Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Spain, Greece, Brazil and Puerto Rico. Last season, he was with Indios de Ciudad Juárez of Mexico’s top league.
The 25-year Joly doesn’t have nearly as much pro experience, but unlike Goodridge, has played in NBL Canada, having split the last two years between the NBLC’S Windsor Express and the Danang Dragons of the Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA).
In 2016, he was the top scorer in the VBA’S inaugural season and was named league MVP after leading Danang to the title. This fall with the Dragons (the VBA season is still underway), Joly has averaged 22.9 points per game, second-best in the short-season league.
Joly was born in Haiti and lived there until his family moved to Quebec when he was 17. After two years attending a junior college in the United States, Joly moved to the University of Quebec (Montreal), playing for the varsity Carabins.
He became a Canadian citizen earlier this year.
Joly and Goodridge make seven players announced as being signed by the expansion Edge for the team’s training camp, set to begin Sunday in St. John’s. It would be nine, assuming draft picks Aaron Williams and Zach Gordon will attend.
Head coach Jeff Dunlap said he expects around 18 players in camp.