University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Cortez Edwards' Legacy Defined by Patience
3/7/2019 5:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss prides itself on being under-the-radar, and if anyone can be the epitome of that, it's smooth, lanky senior guard wearing the No. 1 jersey on the Golden Eagle men's basketball team.
Cortez Edwards on Wednesday night collected four steals in a 59-52 win at C-USA regular-season champion Old Dominion, gaining sole possession of the school's career steals record that stood for 35 years. He is also the only player in program history to rank in the top-20 for scoring (1,370), top-15 for rebounds (615) and top-10 for assists (358). There have been filthy step-back three-pointers, like late in the win over No. 1 Middle Tennessee in the 2018 C-USA Quarterfinals, and plenty of poster dunks.
But if you can't appreciate the process, you don't deserve the results.
"It was pretty successful," Edwards said of his career at Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla. "We went to the state championship and I averaged about 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists and five steals. I was underrated coming from a small town and Orlando had some big names."
Head coach Doc Sadler credits former Jackson State coach Tevester Anderson as the one who first told him about the recruit. Edwards had Indiana, Jacksonville and Charleston Southern calling him, as well as an offer from Tennessee Tech. He committed to Southern Miss on his first visit, and the rest is history.
"Things have always come easy to me in sports, even in school," he said. "Once I got here, my mind progressed and I just picked up on it. The pace was a lot faster in college. The biggest thing for me was that my mind could see things coming, but my body wasn't ready. I would see it but couldn't react."
Exhibit A: Edwards' freshman year. Southern Miss versus Alabama on Dec. 4, 2015.
"We played Alabama, and I got a steal and their guy blocked my shot off the backboard," he said. "It was just tough and had a lot of learning experiences."
Even to this day, any time Edwards misses a shot he thinks he should have made, or gets one blocked, or gets beaten on defense, he will be the first person to smile about it or put it in his rearview mirror.
That freshman season, Edwards averaged 14.4 minutes (only start coming against Tulane), while averaging 1.9 points and rebounds per game with a 19.2 three-point percentage. It also came amidst Southern Miss self-imposing a postseason ban in November for the second consecutive year, stemming from NCAA sanctions that Sadler's staff inherited.
Fellow senior Kevin Holland, who was redshirting as a sophomore when Edwards was playing as a freshman, says all the intangibles were there, and that it was only a matter of time before Edwards could become a true threat outside and inside.
"He really didn't have a true jump shot when he first got here," Holland said. "He made a lot of plays off athleticism, and his confidence grew. He didn't have much in his shot but knew how to play the game and run the plays.
"You can tell in the beginning who knows it and who doesn't. He didn't have many questions but was always open to listening. That's the sign of something good."
After already countless minutes in the gym crafting his game, a defining moment in Edwards' career would come in an all-night drive from Hattiesburg to Kissimmee his sophomore season.
"After we played Alabama A&M (Monday, Nov. 21), I drove home for Thanksgiving and I kept thinking about how the game was getting easier for me and that I would have to start working harder," he said. "I did that, then we played South Alabama (Wednesday, Nov. 30) and I had 15 points and knew then I could start playing well.
"With the time change, it's about 10 hours. I drove home right after that game, getting home about 7 or 8 a.m. I just took a little nap and left around midnight."
Edwards averaged 11.0 points per game that year, starting the final 22 games. He even had 26 in the home finale against Florida Atlantic and 21 at Middle Tennessee in the midst of its Conference USA championship three-peat.
All this was done while playing every position on the floor. He and Kevin Holland had to split time at the point. Sometimes, Edwards was playing in the post. It was all a consequence of severe scholarship limitations on the program. But Coach Sadler knew the team would always be better with him on the floor.
"He was a player who knew how to play and win," he said. "I think that after being with Cortez for four years, that's as good a comment as you can make about him. He understands how to play and shows up every practice or game and gives it his very best. Too many players get caught up in what number (position) you are. I don't even know what a number is. He's a basketball player. He's played every position on the court and played it well. He's never been concerned. He understands getting on the floor and playing."
Come junior year, new transfer personnel arrived that helped ease Edwards' burden. He credits Tyree Griffin (Oklahoma State) and Dominic Magee (Grand Canyon) with providing a diverse arsenal to the team's execution, especially with Griffin's explosive play at point guard.
Not only that, Edwards was named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team for averaging 27.3 ppg during the team's semifinal run. He had 29 against FIU, 23 against Middle Tennessee (including 5-for-6 on triples), and 30 over eventual-champion Marshall.
Edwards, who says he likes playing on a big stage, even had 21 points and eight rebounds against No. 5 Rice in the first round of the tournament his sophomore season.
"I knew I would be successful in the tournament," he said of his junior trip. "The game gets a lot slower so you just have to be efficient and take chances with opportunities. Middle Tennessee kept keeping me out of the paint, so I had to try the three-ball. The first felt good and I kept staying aggressive on the perimeter. With FIU, I was just hitting. Marshall's defensive approach allowed me to be aggressive."
Edwards' collegiate career is nearing the finish line, but he says he would love to play in the NBA G-League or go overseas and test the market there.
"It's about whatever's best for me as I try to play and work my way up," he said. "Coaching [as a post-playing career job] would be the easiest adjustment because I know the game. I've got experience from all the coaches encountered and good relationships."
Edwards will take the floor inside Reed Green Coliseum one final time on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT against UTSA. If character is best shown when adversity strikes, he has proven his mettle time and time again. Edwards has earned and deserved every bit of success that has come his way, and he even offered one last bit of advice for freshmen in the same boat as him seemingly forever ago.
"Just get on the floor," he said. "Whatever it takes. Once you're there, you can show what you do. Make open shots, and whatever role you're put into, do it to the best of your ability, and your role will expand."
Cortez Edwards just did a not nice thing to Q. Weatherspoon pic.twitter.com/k5CoHOTOBQ
— TJ Werre (@TJ_XTV) December 24, 2017
The only thing that can make a happy locker room even happier.
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) November 16, 2018
Congrats again, Cortez! Finished with 23 points and 4-of-6 shooting from long range! 💣 #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/TQpqK3sWbw
So Cortez Edwards got the steal and then told Xavier Sneed he was getting a poster for Christmas. My word. pic.twitter.com/YwvQSf0Y76
— Tyler Greever (@WIBWTyler) December 20, 2018
Cortez Edwards with a jumper to put Southern Miss up 37-23 with 3:18 left in 1H. pic.twitter.com/726gnUHnQk
— Jason Munz (@munzly) January 20, 2018
HISTORY in Reed Green Coliseum today!
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) March 3, 2018
Cortez Edwards, a junior from Kissimmee, Fla., has taken his place in the Southern Miss record book! 👏👏 #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/aumQOLLxIq
History!
— Southern Miss MBB (@SouthernMissMBB) March 7, 2019
Edwards has passed Curtis Green (1980-84) for the school career record! 🎉🎉 #SMTTT pic.twitter.com/ziFpGtlstn
