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We continue our season preview coverage with Pepperdine SR F Kameron Edwards. He has spent most of his college career overcoming injuries (fractured jaw in 2017, concussion in 2018, and various injuries in 2019) but when healthy he and his brother Kessler have played some quality minutes for Coach Lorenzo Romar. You may not have seen him much in the past but if you have some free time in November he will be staying out west to play on national TV in the Wooden Legacy. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Kameron about overcoming injuries and spending Thanksgiving in Anaheim.
You grew up in California: what made you choose Pepperdine? It is close to home so that was a big deal for me. It is a small Christian school with a great sense of community and great academics so it was a no-brainer for me.
You play for Coach Lorenzo Romar: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He spends a lot of times getting to know us off of the court, which builds a lot of the trust that we have in him. He taught me how to play hard/intense while staying in control.
In 2016 you were named to the conference All-Freshman team: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I was able to listen and take direction. I was the only scholarship freshman at the time so it was not easy. I was screwing up drills and they would have to stop practice and teach me the right way to do things, which helped me become a better player.
In November of 2017 you scored a career-high 27 PTS/13-18 FG in an 8-PT loss to UCSB: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I think that is accurate, plus the fact that there were a lot of plays drawn up for me. My shot was dropping that night so the coaches did a good job of making sure the ball got to me.
You missed all of 2017 due to a fractured jaw, missed 9 games in 2018 due to a concussion, and only played 18 games in 2019 due to various injuries: how is your health doing at the moment? It is really good. I had foot surgery 5 months ago but am back on the court and feeling 100%.
1 of your teammates is your brother Kessler: who is the best athlete in the family? Oh man…that has got to be me. He does have more bounce than I do: I have to give him that!
You had 2 seniors on the roster last year (Eric Cooper/Darnell Dunn) who have both moved on: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? I would not say that it is pressure: it has been a smooth transition and myself/Colbey Ross are co-captains. The younger players trust/respect what we have to say, especially due to Colbey’s great work ethic.
Your non-conference schedule includes games at Cal/USC and your conference schedule includes 2 games against Gonzaga: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think all of the Pac-12 games stick out as really good opportunities for us to show what we can do against Power 5 conferences. We also play Arizona in the Wooden Legacy.
Speaking of the Wooden Legacy, how excited are you to spend Thanksgiving in California? I cannot wait! We have a lot of local guys on our roster so it will be good for us to stay close to home and get to see our families during the holiday.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? This is definitely a tournament year for us and we feel that we can win 20 games. We hope to finish top-3 in the conference and open a lot of people’s eyes.