UConn’s Edwards a consistent force, leader
STORRS — Less than an hour after the Big East announced that Paige Bueckers won the Big East Player of the Year, the UConn women’s basketball star was advocating for the player she thought also deserved the award.
Bueckers posted pictures of Aaliyah Edwards on her Instagram story with the caption, “MY POY.” The next day, the redshirt junior began her press conference by telling the media that Edwards should have won it, too.
There’s no denying Bueckers was the best player in the Big East this season, but she isn’t wrong to suggest Edwards not only had just as an impressive season, but has perhaps been the team’s most reliable player the past three years.
Edwards has been a steady ship for UConn every time the program was hit with a new wave of inwith. juries. She was the best Husky on the floor when Bueckers was out all last season with an ACL injury and continued that dominance this season playing alongside the star guard in the post.
“She’s just done so much for us on both ends of the floor,” Bueckers said. “The force that she plays with, the domination she plays with, the consistency that she plays I just thought she played extremely great the entire year, especially through the Big East. I’m always advocating for her and for her to get more spotlight, more attention, not even just in the Big East but national media as well. So, huge fan of Aaliyah Edwards and she definitely had my vote.”
And perhaps more impressive than Edwards’ dominance on the court is her unending selflessness. The 6-foot-3 Canadian forward has risen up to be whatever the team needed each and every year: a top scorer, its best rebounder, an elite defender, and leader. Throughout her development over the last four years, she’s been consistent during an era when the program backed that trait because of the continuous rash of injuries.
While she’s close to etching herself in UConn’s record books and will be a top WNBA draft pick no matter what year she declares, she remains focused on continuing to impact the Huskies.
“I just want to pave the way for someone up and coming to be like, ‘Oh, I can be like her. I can play her role. I can play like her. I can exceed boundaries,’ ” Edwards said. “And just be an elite basketball player. That’s what I want to leave (with) my name here.”
Growing up
Edwards came off the bench for all but six games her freshman year playing behind Olivia NelsonOdoda. She was a spark, ready and able to ignite the
Huskies’ frontcourt thanks to her size and athleticism. Edwards finished fourth on the team with 10.7 points per game and second in rebounds per game (5.7) and blocks (29).
Her efforts as a backup forward earned her the Big East Sixth Woman of the Year award as a freshman.
However, Edwards struggled to get back to that same level the next season.
Edwards had a slow start to her sophomore year. She started the first seven games, but it was clear she was slightly off. She went 0 of 3 against South Florida with just two rebounds and also went scoreless (0 of 5) at Georgia Tech four games later.
She ended the year averaging 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
While Edwards was still finding her role within the UConn system, she was also coming off a summer at the Olympics. Edwards was the youngest member of Team Canada’s women’s basketball roster in the 2020 Olympics that were played in July 2021 because of the pandemic — a grand accomplishment most players dream of but never reach.
But the Olympics also took up most of her summer. She took a couple weeks off afterward before the start of the 2021-22 college season but didn’t get much time between the two to process and rest.
“Freshman year, I thought she got better and better and better every day, and her work ethic was unbelievable and her drive to be good was off the charts,” Geno Auriemmasaid last March. “Then last year, coming off the Olympics with the Canadian national team, I didn’t think it was the same Aaliyah, you know, and she didn’t feel like the same Aaliyah.”
Edwards was forced to grow up at the start of her junior year because UConn needed her more than ever.
Becoming consistent
Nelson-Ododa graduated and left, leaving Edwards with an expanded role alongside Dorka Juhász. Bueckers was out for the year due to an ACL injury and freshman forward Ice Brady missed the season because of a knee injury in the preseason.
Instead of backing down or letting nerves get to her, she put the team on her back and responded.
She poured herself into practice and learned how to listen to her body when it came to rest. She played freely and fearlessly, using her size and physicality to her advantage every game.
After not recording a double-double during her sophomore season, Edwards had 12 rebounds and 14 points in UConn’s season opener against Northeastern. It was her first of 14 double-doubles that year.
“Just studying the game, I feel like and putting in the work into the game, you tend to get a bigger bond for it, bigger passion for it,” she said. “So, I play that way, carry myself that way. And just put in what I practice.”
She averaged 32 minutes per game and started all 37 contests in 2022-23. Edwards was one of just two UConn players to not miss a game due to injury or illness.
Edwards was named MVP of the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament, the MVP of the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase and became the first Husky to have 20 rebounds in a game since Maya Moore in 2010.
All that was before the holiday break.
By the end of the year, she led UConn with 16.6 points per game and was second with 9.0 rebounds per game. Not only was she the Big East’s Most Improved Player and its tournament Most Outstanding Player, but she also earned Third Team All-America honors.
“Just like the edge that she came with this year I feel like was the biggest difference,” Nika Mühl said last spring after Edwards’ All-American award. “She decided some things, ‘This is how it’s gonna be for me this year.’ And it’s been like that ever since she’s decided that. … When Aaliyah decides something is going to happen like, whether you like it or not, she’s gonna make it happen. So just like the confidence. She’s always had that passion, but now you can really see it thrive. She really shows it.”