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Aaliyah Edwards

Aaliyah Edwards
Edwards with the Washington Mystics in 2024
No. 24 – Washington Mystics
PositionForward
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (2002-07-09) July 9, 2002 (age 22)
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight174 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolCrestwood Prep
(Toronto, Ontario)
CollegeUConn (2020–2024)
WNBA draft2024: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Washington Mystics
Playing career2024–present
Career history
2024–presentWashington Mystics
2025–presentMist BC
Career highlights and awards
  • Second-team All-American – USBWA (2024)
  • Third-team All-American – AP, USBWA (2023)
  • WBCA Coaches' All-American (2024)
  • 2× First-team All-Big East (2023, 2024)
  • Big East Most Improved Player of the Year (2023)
  • Big East Sixth Woman of the Year (2021)
  • Big East All-Freshman Team (2021)
  • Big East tournament MOP (2023)
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  Canada
FIBA Women's AmeriCup
Silver medal – second place 2019 Puerto Rico
Bronze medal – third place 2023 León
FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2017 Argentina

Aaliyah Edwards (born July 9, 2002) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball at UConn. She was selected 6th overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2024 WNBA draft. Edwards has represented Canada since her cadet years and has been playing for the senior Canadian national team since she was 16 years old.[1]

High School

Edwards played high school basketball at Crestwood Preparatory College, in Toronto, Ontario, where she led her school to three championships.[2]

College career

Edwards graduated after playing with the UConn Huskies women's basketball team for four seasons.[3] As a junior, she averaged double-double of 18.3 points and 11 rebounds per game, an improvement from her sophomore season, when she averaged 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. The sturdy junior forward became the first UConn player with 20 points and 20 rebounds since Maya Moore in 2010.[4] Edwards was selected first-team All-Big East and second-team All-America as a senior, a season in which UConn narrowly lost against Iowa in the Final Four after playing to a record-breaking 14.4 million ESPN basketball viewers.

Professional career

WNBA

Washington Mystics (2024–present)

On April 15, 2024, Edwards was selected in the first round of the 2024 WNBA draft as the sixth pick by the Washington Mystics.[5] On April 18, she signed her rookie scale contract with the team.[6] On May 15, 2024, in an 80–85 loss to the New York Liberty, Edwards made her debut, recording 6 points and 2 rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.[7] She made her first career start on May 19, 2024, in a 75–84 loss to the Seattle Storm, posting 9 points and 11 rebounds.[8] Edwards had her best game of the season on June 6, 2024, in a 71–79 loss to the Chicago Sky, where she scored career-highs in points (23), rebounds (14), and blocks (4).[9] Throughout the season, Edwards alternated between starting and playing off the bench, usually replacing the original starting center Shakira Austin, who struggled with injuries.[7] Edwards herself missed three games in June and the final three games of the season in September due to back and ankle injuries, respectively.[10][11] Overall, in her rookie season, she played in 34 games and started 17, averaging 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game.[12]

Unrivaled

On October 29, 2024, it was announced that Edwards would appear and play in the inaugural 2025 season of Unrivaled, the women's 3x3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.[13]

National team career

Edwards made her international debut with the Canadian junior national team at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship, where she won a silver medal. She also joined the national team for the 2018 U17 FIBA World Cup and the 2019 U19 FIBA World Cup, where she was the youngest player on both teams.[1]

In 2019, at the age of 16, Edwards made her senior national team debut at an exhibition tournament in Belgium and later that summer, she helped Canada secure a silver medal at the 2019 FIBA Women's AmeriCup.[1] In November 2019, Edwards helped Canada win the Americas pre-qualifying tournament for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[14]

She was once again the youngest member of the team for the 2021 FIBA Women's AmeriCup, where Canada finished fourth.[15] In July 2021, Edwards was named to team Canada's roster for the Tokyo Olympics. She was the youngest member of the team.[16][17] In the Olympic tournament, Edwards played only 31 seconds across two group stage games, as Canada failed to advance to the quarterfinals.[15]

In the 2023 FIBA Women's AmeriCup, Edwards was one of the key players on the team that won bronze medals. Over the course of seven games, she averaged 26.4 minutes, 10.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game.[18]

In July 2024, Edwards was named to team Canada's roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[19] In the Olympic tournament, Edwards played in all three group stage games, averaging 3.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 20.8 minutes per game. However, Canada once again failed to progress to the quarterfinals.[20]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics[21]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2024 Washington 34 17 21.8 .490 .000 .507 5.6 1.4 0.7 0.8 1.5 7.6
Career 1 year, 1 team 34 17 21.8 .490 .000 .507 5.6 1.4 0.7 0.8 1.5 7.6

College

NCAA statistics[22]
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020–21 UConn 29 6 21.8 .689 — .636 5.7 0.9 1.0 1.0 2.0 10.7
2021–22 UConn 36 26 24.9 .521 .400 .740 5.1 1.4 1.1 0.5 2.1 7.9
2022–23 UConn 37 37 32.5 .589 1.000 .773 9.0 2.4 1.2 1.1 3.0 16.6
2023–24 UConn 37 37 30.3 .593 .000 .747 9.2 2.1 1.7 1.0 2.5 17.6
Career 139 106 27.7 .593 .333 .736 7.3 1.8 1.3 0.9 2.4 13.4

Personal life

Edwards was born in Kingston, Ontario, to Jacqueline and Stanford Edwards. She wears purple and yellow braids to pay homage to the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant, and her late brother Jermaine.[23][2] She is of Jamaican descent.[24]

Awards and honors

  • Big East All-Tournament team (2023)[25]
  • AP Third Team All-American (2023)[26]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Aaliyah Edwards". Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website. June 29, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "UConn's Aaliyah Edwards finds inspiration among Husky greats". ESPN.com. February 9, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  3. ^ Ewing, Lori (February 17, 2021). "Canada's Aaliyah Edwards shining in freshman season unlike any other at UConn". Canadian Press. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Gonzalez, Isabel. "Aaliyah Edwards becomes first UConn player with 20 points, 20 rebounds in a game since Maya Moore". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  5. ^ "Mystics Select Aaliyah Edwards with Sixth Pick in 2024 WNBA Draft". WNBA. April 16, 2024. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Aaliyah Edwards - Transactions". Across the Timeline. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Vanoni, Maggie (September 21, 2024). "Former UConn women's basketball star Aaliyah Edwards has 'no complaints' about rookie WNBA season". CT Insider. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  8. ^ Hatfield, Jenn (May 31, 2024). "Aaliyah Edwards makes jump from UConn to Mystics look easy". The Next. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  9. ^ Copeland, Kareem (June 6, 2024). "Angel Reese returns home, helps drop Mystics to 0-10". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  10. ^ Yapkowitz, David (June 29, 2024). "Mystics add help to roster amid injuries". ClutchPoints | Washington Mystics News. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  11. ^ Hatfield, Jenn (September 16, 2024). "Shakira Austin to miss rest of season for Washington Mystics". The Next. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  12. ^ "Inside the Numbers: Aaliyah Edwards & Julie Valoo's Rookie Seasons". mystics.wnba.com. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  13. ^ @Unrivaledwbb (October 29, 2024). "AALIYAH EDWARDS IS UNRIVALED👑 28/30✅" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Faria, Chris (November 15, 2019). "Canadian women go undefeated at FIBA Olympic pre-qualifying tournament". Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Connolly, Daniel (October 19, 2021). "After Olympic experience, versatility is key for Aaliyah Edwards". The UConn Blog. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  16. ^ "Canada's Tokyo 2020 women's basketball team announced". Basketball Canada. June 30, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  17. ^ Awad, Brandi (June 29, 2021). "Team Canada's women's basketball squad ready to shoot for Olympic podium". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  18. ^ Vanoni, Maggie (July 11, 2023). "UConn women's basketball senior Aaliyah Edwards leads Canada to bronze medal in FIBA AmeriCup". CT Insider. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  19. ^ "Kia Nurse, Aaliyah Edwards Named to Canada 2024 Olympic Roster". University of Connecticut Athletics. July 2, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  20. ^ Hatfield, Jenn (August 18, 2024). "Mystics' Olympians return to WNBA harboring joy, disappointment". The Next. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  21. ^ "Aaliyah Edwards WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  22. ^ "Aaliyah Edwards College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  23. ^ Connolly, Daniel (March 29, 2021). "Aaliyah Edwards' purple and gold braids honor Kobe Bryant — and her late brother". The UConn Blog. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  24. ^ "Player With Jamaican Descent Drafted To WNBA". www.radiojamaicanewsonline.com. April 16, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  25. ^ Adamec, Carl. "UConn notebook: Sweet repeat for Lopez Sénéchal". Journal Inquirer. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  26. ^ "Aaliyah Edwards". WNBA DRAFT. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
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