The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Hall of Famer Andy Landers (her college coach) about Teresa Edwards, who remains the only American basketball player to have competed in 5 Olympics (from 1984-2000). Today is Teresa’s birthday so allow us to be the 1st to wish her a happy 1!
Teresa was born/raised in Cairo, GA, where she was named 1982 high school state POY: how did you recruit her to Georgia? That was a totally different time with a different set of rules: alumni could have contact with players so we employed the entire Bulldog nation to reach out to her. There were no limitations on how often we could see her play so we were in Cairo a lot during her junior/senior year. It boiled down to us/Auburn and we were able to keep her at home.
In the 1985 NCAA title game she fouled out with 13 minutes left in a 5-PT loss to Old Dominion (who tied a Final 4 record with 57 REB): where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career, and do you think that the game would have turned out differently if she had not fouled out? That was a really unusual game. ODU was excellent but so were we. We built a double-digit lead in the 1st half but in a matter of seconds it seemed like there were 3 straight plays where my frontcourt players each drew their 3rd foul with 6 minutes left in the 1st half. We played them even throughout the 2nd half. Teresa drew her 3rd/4th fouls early in the 2nd half and when I pulled her for 1-2 minutes ODU started to come back. I do not think Teresa had fouled out of a game since she was a freshman because she was a very smart player so I decided to put her back in early rather than let ODU take the lead. ODU had a fast break that became part of our end-of-the-year highlight reel. If you look at the camera angle from under the basket Teresa did not even touch the other girl so I was right. It was a gut-wrenching loss and looking back I just scratch my head at all of the fouls that were called. If Teresa had not fouled out then I think that we would have won. I just watched the “Last Dance” and Teresa is so much like Michael Jordan because they are both all about winning. Most kids come into college and have never had a chance to talk to the media and get some attention: Teresa just came to compete and was the greatest competitor to ever lace up a pair of basketball sneakers. Some nights she scored and other nights she would rebound/pass: she did whatever it took to win.
She was a 2-time All-American: what did it mean to her to receive such outstanding honors? I think it pleased her later in her career but she was driven to be the best version of herself that she could be. That is just the way she is wired. The accolades constantly reinforced that she was on the right track: there was never a celebration when it happened but she simply took it in stride. She was the same age as Cheryl Miller: 1 was from a small town in Georgia that was known for making pickles and another was being chauffeured around in a limo to appear on Johnny Carson’s talk show! I love Cheryl, who was the best player in the nation as a freshman/sophomore…but Teresa was the best as a junior/senior. She had a crazy love for competition. I remember a bus trip to play South Carolina State on a Thursday night. On the ride home I asked her why she would rather take a beating then win an easy game by 60 PTS: she said that she wanted to play against the best. She hated games that got out of hand…unless we were beating a very good team. She was the same way during practice: she made every drill a challenge for everyone else as if her life depended on it. She was a coach’s dream! I remember a drill where 1 of our freshmen kept letting people go past her in line…because she did not want to go against Teresa. That is the atmosphere she helped create.
After college she spent almost a decade overseas before playing a few years in the ABL/WNBA: what is the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball in other countries? When she went overseas she was regarded as the best player in the world. She rode that for 4-5 years and then her college teammate Katrina McClain became the best player in the world. There was big money overseas back then, even more than the pros make today.
In November of 1997 she set a record for the most PTS in a women’s pro basketball game in the US by scoring 46 PTS (16-27 FG/5-10 3PM) in addition to 7 REB/7 AST for Atlanta in a 5-PT win at Seattle: what was her secret for being a great scorer? As a college freshman she was strictly a scorer but later became a much better shooter. The reason she could put big numbers on the board was that she could pick you in the backcourt, and when she did that with her blistering speed it turned into a layup. She might do that 4-5 times/game if she figured her opponent out early: picking off passes and stripping the ball away. She knew when to pull up and when to go baseline and was an excellent FT shooter: she checked all of the boxes. Her size/speed/strength made her an extremely hard matchup. In most games she probably affected 46 PTS: she might score 26 PTS…while also getting 10 AST…while also blocking shots and not turning the ball over. You do not have a single question about her defense but she was very disruptive to the other team. The beauty of Teresa is that she did not have to shoot well to play well: some of her best games involved her scoring only 14 PTS but screwing up the other team’s strategy on the defensive end.
She is a 4-time Olympic gold medalist and remains the only American basketball player to have competed in 5 Olympics (Teofilo Cruz/Andrew Gaze/Oscar Schmidt have all played in 5 Olympics for their own countries): what did it mean to her to represent her country, and do you think that anyone will ever break her record? She called me during preparation for her 2nd Olympics and asked me to attend the Olympic Trials. We were a pretty good match because I was only interested in seeing her be the best she could be. She asked me how I did after 1 practice and I told her that she was so freaking good. She laughed and hugged me and said that she had been waiting 4 years to hear that from me! I could not see it while I was coaching her but did once I got to enjoy it as a spectator. It was huge for her to play in the Olympics and the meaning changed for her every 4 years. The 1st 1 was important to the town of Cairo that nobody really knew about. The town got together to fly her mom to LA. I remember watching her during the national anthem before the 1st game: I was crying. Her nickname growing up was “1-Bone” because she was so skinny. It was important for her to show that kids from small rural towns could dream about something and make it come true. The 2nd Olympics meant a lot and she was ready to contribute. She knows what the expectations are and she was able to compete/win. The 3rd/4th Olympics were about doing it again. She gave a speech in her hometown during the 1996 Olympics: that had to be 1 of the proudest moments of her athletic career because she had earned the respect not just of the USOC but of the world due to her play in the previous 3 Olympics. She would have to tell you herself what her 5th Olympics meant to her. A lot of people took it for granted but she had to earn her way onto that team as an “old lady” and prove that she could still do it: it was not a given.
In 2000 Sports Illustrated named her the 22nd Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century: how proud are you of all that she has accomplished? I was blessed to have spent 4 years with her during college. To know where she came from and her story and the truth about her: I could not be any prouder. Everyone knows about stars like Miller/Diana Taurasi but maybe 1 of the lesser-known Olympians is Teresa. She was not there for the glory: postgame interviews were not important to her and she never self-promoted. I think she was ranked as the 60th-best PF coming out of high school or something stupid like that. She worked on her strength and developed her skills: it was not a blessing but a challenge that she accomplished.
She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010/Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011/FIBA Hall of Fame in 2013: where do those rank among the highlights of her career? I think that you know as you are coming down the stretch that you are in “landing mode” and will be finished in 3-4 years. I think she started to appreciate other people’s appreciation of what she had accomplished. I think it validated in her mind that she was able to be the best. At the very least the best version of herself, but in my view the best competitor to ever play this game.
She spent several years as a WNBA assistant coach: did you ever think that she would become a coach, and do you think that it is hard for Hall of Fame players to become coaches? It depends on the player but there are some challenges for great players depending on their story. Some players have natural gifts and become frustrated with players who do not have similar gifts or cannot read the game/compete like they did during their own playing days. The challenges become even greater when coaching players at your previous position. It also depends on the level: I never thought that she would coach in college because she was not into recruiting. She was not a good recruiter when she was here because there is no fluff in her: she would be more liable to walk into the dorm and just ask them if they wanted to come here.
When people look back on her career, how do you think that she should be remembered the most? For people who played with her/coached her/know her, she will be remembered as a person who understood/embraced the highest levels of competition: she created those levels. Taurasi/Sue Bird are getting close to playing in 5 Olympics but for the longest time I did not think anyone else would be able to do it. If you look at her international resume she played in about 20 tournaments and probably 80% of them resulted in gold medals. We might end up thinking of her as the most “golden” of anyone who has ever played.