Jesse Edwards Stepping Up to the Challenge at West Virginia

Jesse Edwards, WVU’s new big man, is looking forward to the challenge of beginning a new era during his last year of college basketball. Edwards made the trip to Kansas City, Mo. for Big 12 media day this week with interim HC Josh Eilert, and teammates Kerr Kriisa and Quinn Slazinski.

“It’s definitely a new era. I’m looking forward to the challenge. We’ve got a bunch of experienced guys. It’s only like one freshman, one or two sophomores. It’s really a group of experienced college players,” Edwards told the Big 12 tipoff show. “That’s what makes it really fun because we really know what it’s like and know what it’s like to be in these big games and the Big 12 is nothing bigger than that at this point. So every game is going to be a battle and what I’m looking forward to most is to give these Morgantown fans what they deserve. They’ve been really supportive throughout the whole process.”

Edwards committed to West Virginia in April when Bob Huggins was still the head coach of the program. Despite the coaching transition from Huggins to Eilert, Edwards decided to stay at WVU for his final year of eligibility. Edwards spent four years at Syracuse under Jim Boeheim, developing into an All-ACC team player during his time. The 6-foot-11 big man looks to bring his 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks to West Virginia.

“It was really just looking for the right place to develop my game to the next level,” Edwards said. “I had a great four years at Syracuse, I love the place, love the town, love the people. I learned so much there from coach [Jim] Boeheim and everybody there. Went over and visited West Virginia and it felt right pretty much right away. My teammates, coach Eilert, it’s been a really good experience so far. So for me, it was pretty easy to commit once I went there and saw what it was like.”

The Preseason Big 12 Honorable Mention specifically shouted out WVU assistant Da’Sean Butler as he has been working with the Syracuse transfer to keep improving his game. Edwards talked about how important the staff has been so far during this process.

“We got a bunch of new faces on the staff and then obviously the whole team. But for all the guys that have been around: Jay Kuntz, Da’Sean Butler has been working with me a lot, coach Eilert, DJ [DerMarr Johnson], J5 [Jordan McCabe]. There’s been all these guys that have been working together. The whole staff really, there’s too many to name but everybody’s really chipped in and everybody’s really made sure that we are putting everything into this year and in the future.”

Edwards and the Mountaineers will host George Mason in a charity exhibition game on Friday, Oct. 27 at the WVU Coliseum.