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Many players like a coach who previously played college basketball because the coach knows what the player is going though. However, until a Wyoming player wins a pair of NCAA titles, they will never know exactly what their assistant coach Allen Edwards has been through before. Edwards is ready to begin year #5 with the Cowboys as an assistant to head coach Larry Shyatt, and he does so with quite the impressive basketball pedigree: Florida’s Mr. Basketball at Miami Senior High School, a 2-1 record in 3 NCAA title games as a player at Kentucky (the loss was in OT), a pair of NCAA tourneys as an assistant coach at VCU, and Wyoming’s 1st NCAA tourney berth in 13 years last March. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Edwards about winning a title, losing a title, and having not 1 but TWO(!) brothers who were McDonald’s All-Americans.
You played for a pair of great coaches at Kentucky (Rick Pitino/Tubby Smith): what is the most important thing that you ever learned from either of them? 1 of the things they both hit on that I took away was that basketball had a direct correlation to life. You get out of life what you put into it, just like basketball.
You won a pair of NCAA titles in 1996 and 1998 and lost the 1997 title game in OT to Arizona: what did it mean to you to win 2 titles, and do you ever have any regrets about not winning 3 in a row? It was unbelievable to win 2 titles: it is hard to explain but that was our goal every year. We put in the necessary work to reach that point and after doing it once we wanted to do it all over again. The experience we learned as sophomores helped us as seniors. Arizona was a really good team so my only regret is that I was dealing with an ankle injury and was not able to give the team 100%. I did not feel that I let the team down, but felt bad that I could not help them at the end of that game.
In 2011 you were hired as an assistant to Larry Shyatt at Wyoming: why did you take the job, and how do you like working for Larry? I had been in the business for a while at that time and I got to know Larry through his son Jeremy, who I worked with at VCU. Larry is part of the Rick Pitino/Billy Donovan coaching tree so I had heard a lot about him, and everyone I talked to had tremendous things to say about him. It almost felt like I was being recruited again because he had done his research on me! He felt that I was the guy for him, which made me feel very comfortable. He has been nothing but great to me: I have learned from him and have received a lot of responsibility as well.
In the 2013 CBI Nathan Sobey made a corner 3 at the buzzer in a 2-PT win over Lehigh, then David Brown made a 3 at the end of regulation in an OT loss to Western Michigan: how was your blood pressure doing by the end of that week?! It was part of the process for us. The CBI is nice…but it helped build our team and allowed us to win the MWC title in 2015.
Last January you had a 5-PT 3-OT win at Fresno State: I assume that overtime games are exhausting for players, but how tired were you as a coach by the end of that game? It was exciting and showed that our guys could win on the road against a tough team. It showed their fight because they were not willing to give up: those situations help you as the season goes on when you have to deal with illnesses/losses.
Your 56.4 PPG allowed was #7 in the nation last year: what is the key to having a great defense? We had a veteran group of guys who have been through our system and understand what we want from them on both ends of the floor. We had good ball control, which allowed fewer possessions for our opponent. When you have length in the post and intelligence on the perimeter, you know that you have the defensive presence necessary to win games.
In the 2015 MWC tourney title game Josh Adams scored 10 PTS including the go-ahead 3 with in the final minute of a 2-PT win over San Diego State: what did it mean to clinch your school’s 1st NCAA tourney bid in 13 years, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I wanted it more for our guys. At the start of the year I thought they had a chance to do it, so I tried to get them to understand what it takes to win championships. I was happy for the guys because they understood what we were talking about all season long. It was not just ridiculous on our campus: the whole state embraced us during our entire conference tourney run at the Thomas & Mack Center. The state really represented us in Vegas: it got pretty loud in there and they were able to drown out the Aztec fans. I remember looking up and thinking that it was amazing how much they supported us.
Josh is the only senior on the team and the only returning starter: how much pressure is there on him to be a leader this year? 1 of the things he is great at is dealing with pressure: he has never shied away from that responsibility and has done a tremendous job this year with 8 new guys on the roster. He is the example that we look toward in terms of how to carry yourself and set the tone: he is like a coach on the floor, which is a tremendous step that he has taken. He is the type of leader who holds himself accountable: he will stop practices and make corrections himself, which shows the trust that we have in him, and it encourages our players to get in line and follow him.
Your older brothers Doug and Steve were each McDonald’s All-Americans: who is the best athlete in the family? I would say that Doug was the most talented: he just had a unique gift. All of our styles of play were different: I was more of a facilitator while Steve was more of a scorer. Growing up and watching them in person, I thought Doug stacked up with anyone in the country.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Like any team we just want to be the best we can be every time that we step out on the court for practices and games. If we can do that I think it can be a successful year for us even though we are a young team. We just have to be our best each day and let the chips fall where they may.