Steven Edwards (basketball) facts for kids

Steven Edwards, born on March 1, 1973, is an American who used to play professional basketball. He was a talented player known for his skills on the court.

High School Basketball Star

Steven Edwards went to Miami Senior High School. He had an amazing time playing basketball there. He was even named Florida Mr. Basketball twice! This award goes to the best high school basketball player in Florida.

In his junior year, he scored about 23.5 points per game. He also grabbed 7 rebounds and made 6 assists per game. During his senior year, he averaged 18.1 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Steven helped his team win two state championships in 1990 and 1991. In 1992, they almost won a third, finishing as runner-up. Because of his great playing, he received many awards. He was chosen for the Parade All-America Third Team. He was also named Florida Gatorade Player of the Year in 1992. Some experts even said he was one of the top 10 senior players in his class.

He was also picked as a McDonald's All-American. This means he was one of the best high school players in the country. He played in the 1992 McDonald's All-American Boys Game. He wore jersey number 32, which was his number at Miami Senior. He scored 3 points in that game, with his only basket being a 3-point shot.

College Career at Miami

After high school, Steven decided to stay in his hometown. He chose to play for the University of Miami basketball team. He made a big impact right away in his first year, called his freshman season.

This first year was his best for many statistics. He started 25 out of 27 games for Miami. He was the best in the Big East conference for 3-point shooting. He made 38.2% of his 3-point shots. He was also the top-scoring freshman in the whole conference. On January 23, 1993, he scored a career-high 26 points against Pitt. He was named to the 1993 Big East All-Rookie team. He was also the top scorer for the Hurricanes that season.

In his second year, his scoring went down. This was because of a knee injury he got before the season started. He played fewer minutes and only started 11 games.

The next season, he was able to start games again for the Hurricanes. He became the team's top scorer once more. His rebounding also got better, going up to 4.5 rebounds per game. He also shot free throws very well, making 77.1% of them. This was his best free throw percentage in college. It was also one of the best in the Big East conference, ranking 4th.

For his senior year, he was chosen as a team co-captain. He shared this role with Alex Fraser. He led the Hurricanes in scoring again, averaging 12.9 points per game. He finished his college career having played 110 games and starting 91 of them. He scored a total of 1,393 points. When he finished, he was the all-time leader for 3-pointers made in Hurricanes history. Since then, another player has passed him, so he now ranks second.

Professional Basketball Journey

After finishing college, Steven Edwards was ready for the 1996 NBA draft. However, no team in the NBA chose him. So, he started his professional basketball journey in Argentina. He signed with a team called Atenas de Córdoba.

During his first two years with Atenas, he helped them win the national championship twice! He also won the 1998 Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol, which is a big South American basketball tournament. After playing one season with Boca Juniors, he joined the Utah Jazz for their summer team in 2000. But he was released from the team in July 2000.

Steven then moved to Europe to continue his career. He played for the St. Petersburg Lions in Russia. With this team, he played 5 games in the Euroleague, a top European competition. In those games, he averaged 13.4 points and 3.8 rebounds. After that season, he went back to Atenas in Argentina for one more year.

He also played part of the 2001–02 season with Universidad Complutense in Spain. In April 2002, he signed with another Spanish team, the Cantabria Lobos. He played 4 games in Spain's top basketball league, averaging 5.5 points and 1 rebound. After spending a year playing in Uruguay, he played for 5 seasons with UB La Palma.

Family Life

Steven Edwards was born in Miami, Florida. His parents are John Benny and Laura Mae Edwards. Steven comes from a family of basketball players! His brothers, Doug and Allen, also played basketball. Doug even played in the NBA for teams like the Atlanta Hawks and the Vancouver Grizzlies. Allen played college basketball for Kentucky and later became a coach.