City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Saint Joseph’s landed its fourth 2016 commit earlier in the week, as forward Lorenzo Edwards made his pledge to Phil Martelli and the Hawks. Edwards, a Lake Forest, Ill. native, is a versatile 6-7 forward that will help add some depth to a frontcourt that will need it.

CoBL spoke with the newest Hawk about his college choice, his knowledge of St. Joe’s and growing up with a father who played in the NBA:

CoBL: What did you like about St. Joe’s in your talks with the staff and when you visited?

Edwards: “I just liked the urban feel of the campus, and it being in the city of Philadelphia, I liked that and it had a lot of great opportunities. It’s also next to all these other great D-I schools and knowing we’ll play them, it will really help me improve. And definitely coach Martelli and the coaching staff there. He’s been doing this for a while, and he’s had great success at making players better and winning. I wanted to be a part of that.”

CoBL: Did you know much about St. Joe’s before the program started recruiting you?

Edwards: “I knew Delonte West went there, and I knew they had a pretty deep run with Jameer Nelson, but I didn’t know too much about them in detail before they started recruiting me.”

CoBL: So did you pay closer attention to the run they made this season? Especially in the conference tournament and NCAA Tournament?

Edwards: “Once they offered me, I definitely kept an eye on them. I wanted to see their style of play and how coach Martelli was on the sidelines during games and stuff like that.”

CoBL: For people who have never seen you play, how would you sum up your game?

Edwards: “I feel like I’m a mismatch. I am bigger and I have been playing in the post for a while, since really the beginning of my basketball career. But then I really started working on my ballhandling and shooting so I could really become a mismatch problem. Shorter guys on me, I can post them up, and if there’s a bigger guy on me, I can take him off the dribble and attack that way.”

CoBL: St. Joe’s had a player like that this season in Isaiah Miles. When you watched some of their games this season, did you keep a particularly close eye on how he played?

Edwards: “Definitely. I wanted to see how they used him and how I could play in that position. I saw some of the plays they ran for him and how he got open.”

CoBL: Doing some reading on your senior season, it was pretty clear you took on a larger role. What was your senior year like?

Edwards: “It was definitely a different role from junior year, because I was more of a role player my junior year. My junior year taught me a lot, going against (current Dartmouth player) Evan Boudreaux every day made me better. It definitely got me prepared physically and mentally. I ended up working harder in the summer and the fall and it paid off.”

CoBL: Your dad had a long career in the NBA, was clearly a great basketball player. What was it like growing up with a father who was in the NBA?

Edwards: “He never forced me to play basketball or anything. I actually played baseball for most of my childhood, and that was my favorite sport growing up. But I started to fall in love with basketball. It was fine growing up with an NBA dad, but everyone kind of expected you to be great, so I would sometimes get anxious and things like that. But I grew out of that, and now I just try to play as hard as I can.”

CoBL: Did he ever have a conversation with you about that? Just dealing with the expectations that came with having a father with that background?

Edwards: “Yeah definitely. He wanted me to have a short memory and not to worry about the outside stuff. He definitely helped me out there, and it made me a better player.”

CoBL: I know you were considering a couple other A-10 schools (George Mason, St. Louis, Duquesne) in the process. Was there one thing that really helped set St. Joe’s apart?

Edwards: “Coach Martelli. I like his style of coaching that he has. He definitely seems like a father figure, very parental and that’s something good in a coach. He’s also had a lot of success developing players and winning, so I felt like I had a better opportunity at Saint Joseph’s.”