[Sly Fox]

How could a kid with this name not be a Flame? RMc was recruiting him at UNM before heading to LU. Although he's a native New Yorker, he's at a Christian school in Greater Philly so perhaps some of our Old Hags might have some connections.


Jonathan Edwards
6' 8" 190 lbs
Small/Power Forward

High School: Cherry Hill (NJ) Living Faith Christian Academy
AAU Team:

Scout Profile

Jonathan is ranked #10 in NJ's Class of 2008 by this site.

Interview by Rutgers Scout Writer Last Summer - Premium Membership Required

Here's a snippet from a UNM Recruiting story last October in the ABQ fishwrap:

Edwards likes the Lobos: Everton Edwards, the father of Lobo recruit Jonathan Edwards, said New Mexico is at "the top of our list."

Edwards, a junior, is a 6-8 small forward from Living Faith Christian Academy in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

"No question about it," Everton said. "Even though we can't come out and make a commitment, we feel very good about New Mexico and coach (Ritchie) McKay and Jonathan going down there."

Everton said he and his wife were to arrive in Albuquerque late Thursday night to visit with the New Mexico staff and check out the campus.

New Mexico and James Madison are the only two schools to offer Edwards a scholarship, Living Faith coach Darryl Gladden said, but some heavy names could follow.

Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall and St. Joseph's have expressed interest in Edwards, Gladden said.

Everton said Virginia Tech, Miami (Fla.), Rutgers, George Mason and Stanford are in that mix, too.

Edwards averaged 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game as a sophomore at Living Faith.

Gladden said his "point-forward" is a long, cerebral player with strong athletic ability.

Everton said he expects his son to choose a school by the end of his junior year.

Click Here for Full Story

[LUconn]

well he's a happy looking fella.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

He Doesnt Look 190 thats for sure

[LUconn]

Are you kidding? I'm 6'1" 180 and I'm pretty skinny looking. I'm sure 7 more inches would add more than 10 pounds on me.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Eh I guess so... he still needs to put some pounds on

[jmdickens]

Lobo Elite Camp: Smooth Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards By: Lee Roy Lucero
Date: Jun 29, 2006

The smooth Jonathan Edwards... .

When I first met 6’-8” 220 lb WF Jonathan Edwards of Living Faith Christian Academy in Cherry Hills NJ. I was like man this guy is put together and it looks like he put some extra muscle and be very physical…

So I asked Jonathan what position he played in high school and he said, “A little bit of everything, I handle the ball pretty well, mostly small and power forward plus guard. I’m an all around player.”

Okay. Okay… So like a 6’8” guard? What are your strengths as a player? “My length and ball handling ability. All parts of my game are strong except my defense I really need to work on that,” said Edwards.

So I asked his the man that brought him out to UNM for the Elite Camp… Coach Lawrence Mc Gugins what kind of player Jonathan Edwards is and he said, “Jonathan is a smooth smooth player. Reminds me of a Tayshaun Prince. He can play in the post as well as perimeter and poses a lot of threats. He is also a great mid range shooter.”

I asked both Edwards and Coach Mc Gugins what Jonathan had to do to become a better basketball player and both of them said the exact same thing which tells me immediately that Jonathan Edwards is a very coachable player.

“Defense and being more aggressive,” said Edwards. “Those are the two things I’m working on this summer.” Meanwhile, Coach Lawrence said, “He can put the ball on the floor but he needs to be a little bit more aggressive for 40 minutes a game. It isn’t like he can’t do it, because he can, he just needs to do it more and that will come with more experience as he is an ’08 graduate.”

When you watch these guys it is so hard to remember that they are going to be juniors in high school this upcoming season and that as good as they are, they still need more experience and seasoning.

Watching Edwards play on the court showed me that he could do exactly what he said he could do. One minute he is bringing the ball up court, the next he is moving baseline to baseline waiting for an entry pass. Defensively he would go out vs. a swing player or drop down in the post and try to contain Christian Morris.

Jonathan Edwards in black tries to keep The Beast out of the paint!

Now I may have been somewhat predisposed to seeing this as they both said it, but I also noticed what both Edwards and McGugins said about “being more aggressive” as there were times that he didn’t seem to be all the way in that game situation. Now that may have been more the fact that the people with the ball didn’t recognize the wide open Edwards roving the baseline and possibly frustration, or it could have been Edwards just lulling his defender to sleep… I say that because Edward’s best play of the day came off a Mickey Mc Connell pass from the top of the key down low and Edward’s exploded to the hoop for an easy dunk.

I spoke with Jonathan about being he recruited and he said right now
New Mexico, St. Joe’s, South Carolina, Penn St., Indiana, Rutgers, and Seton Hall were the schools showing the most interest.
I asked if he had any favorites at this point and Edwards said, “New Mexico is one of my favorites as well as South Carolina…”

Before I let him go I was curious what Jonathan thought of going up against current collegiate players and he said, “JR Giddens is really really… I mean really good. I knew he was good when I saw him when he played Kansas, but he and these other guys are really good. Makes me want to work harder because this is where I’ve got to get to.”

So you can hang with these guys Jonathan? “Yeah of course! You just have to work hard and believe.”

http://newmexico.scout.com/2/543355.html

[SuperJon]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


He posted a full article.

[paradox]

It's interesting that Edwards' name popped up here. A friend of mine from up that way is close with coach Darryl Gladden. Edwards' name came up in conversation last fall and the possibility of him coming to LU seemed totally out of the question. But now, with McKay in the picture, who knows? If he can pull this off, then this could indeed be the begining of something very special.

For what it's worth, Gladden was an all-conference point gaurd for the LaSalle Explorers back in the late 70's / early 80's; at one time, his daughter had enrolled at LU, but couldn't complete due to health reasons; Darryl manages to recruit top talent from accross the northeast and even overseas; one year, he had three Parisians on his team; his starting five usually ends up playing big-time D-1 basketball at programs such as Syracuse.

I don't mean to sound like a smart aleck, but hopefully someday, we'll realize that it makes sense to bring someone like Gladden down here to Lynchburg and let him do his thing at LCA. If the international and inner-city dimension is more than LCA can handle, then Thomas Road could simply start an additional out-reach school as a much needed minstry. Helping the underprivledged and reaching out overseas is something that certainly exceeds basketball and is something that LU should be doing anyhow.

[whmatthews]

Do we really want someone named John Edwards???? I hope coach doesn't promise $400 haircuts!

[Sly Fox]

Its Jonathan as in the iconic evangelist.

[whmatthews]

John... short for Jonathan. It still works.

[SuperJon]

Its Jonathan as in the iconic evangelist.

He's a government major.

[Sly Fox]

That explains it. He's probably slept through Theology (or is that still a requirement these days?).

[SuperJon]

Unfortunately it's a requirement.


Towns should stop teaching. Really.

[whmatthews]

Although we're off the topic, I didn't sleep through Theology - I took Morrison for one and Borland for the other, so I wasn't sleeping.

But uh, yeah, so the prospect. Good lookin' kid I guess.

[olldflame]

I know the NCAA hates it, but it is the worst-hidden "dirty little secret" in the world that the vast majorityof prospects for athletic scholarships make their decision on where to play ball (and secondarily where to go to school) based on the coach, not the school. If Edwards was seriously considering NM, I think it's safe to say that LU is now on his short list. He certainly looks like the kind of athlete we need to recruit to upgrade our talent level.

[paradox]

Oldflame:

The coach does weigh heavy for the recruit in terms of choice, however, there is often more to the picture than just the coach, such as the high-major element. For instance, if programs such as Stanford or UConn were to make offers, then LU, at this stage, would struggle to compete. We are not quite the evangelical counterparts to Boston College and Notre Dame, just yet. However, if things remain as they are with UNM and JMU as his top pursuers, then our chances are quite favorable that he may choose McKay, so to speak. We should know something certain by the end of the fall signing period.

Building a strong relationship with Darryl Gladden at this stage could turn out to be huge for our program down the road.

[TIMSCAR20]

I don't think recruiting is as cut and dry as we talk about on this board. We make it sound like we pick our schools as student athletes like we pick our prom dates: Ask a girl to go but if the prettier girl becomes available, then ask her. (Not that I did that, heck we didn't even have a prom in HS). My point is that we think these guys have some Heirarchy of schools and conferences in their heads then they pick the school with the Highest RPI at the time all the offers are on the table. Like I said, Liberty has gotten plenty of guys with seemingly "better options." Carey Green has a good chance of getting Oestreicher's sister over Stanford and other schools. Would anyone suggest Liberty is a better school than Stanford? No but my point is, if we approached recruiting at Liberty the way we talk about on this board we would never get any good players. We would ask the prospect who is recruit them and if they say any "name schools" we say thank you have a nice day. Here is something else to consider that is rarely talked about in these types of discussions; Playing time. Guys want to play. You may be recruited by UNC or Texas but if you dig deeper you may find out that you don't really fit into thier plans until your JR or SR year. You know based on playing with the players on your visit if you have a chance to fit in and play right away. That is yet another good reason that lesser known schools have a chance to go after the same recruits as the big boys.

[Cider Jim]

Carey Green has a good chance of getting Oestreicher's sister over Stanford and other schools.

Scar, would that observation be considered "insider information" or just a personal opinion from the "Self proclaimed Liberty Basketball Expert"?

[TIMSCAR20]

Haven't talked to Carey in a while or anyone on the staff to be honest....did have a convo with a women's insider though. Actually I did talk to Alexis for 2 minutes last week but not about this. No inside info here but clearly they have a chance to get her.

[TDDance234]

Tailor-made for Liberty. Caner might crap himself though having a guy named "Jonathan Edwards" enrolled at Liberty.

[olldflame]

SCAR,

I totally concurr, and from what I have seen and heard thus far, I think we have just the right coach to go after those elite christian athletes who have other options; a charismatic individual who can present the unique opportunity of playing for and being discipled by a comitted christian coaching staff within the context of a christian university, while still striving for excellence on the court.

As far as "Jesse O" is concerned, obviously her brother being here is one of our "biggest" selling points. I suspect that once he is on campus, if he finds the Liberty experience a positive one, he will be the best recruiter Cary could have.

[paradox]

Scar / Flame:

We need to clarify one major distinction between two key terms: someone who is actually "offered" a scholarship and someone who along with a slew of others is simply drawing "interest", but not actually offered a scholarship. I think that we all know that there is a world of difference there between the two.

The last time that I checked we weren't exactly competing with the Big Ten, ACC, Big East, PAC Ten, or SEC with scholarship offers. We have to be realistic , now. Also, on this issue, we really can't make a fair comparison with ladies athletics when men's basketball is high profile, involves major dollars, and grants instant exposure for those fortunate enough to see playing time in an elite program.

One art in recruiting at the mid-major level would be to find and sign a major talent who has been over-looked by the more elite programs. Hildebrand, Aluma, Okotie, among others would be a few examples that come to mind. Some players such as Marcus White could have played for programs like the University Texas who lost interest in him because he was an old prop-48. And given the fact that he was only eligible for two years for us, we can understand why they passed him by.

As far as Edwards goes, I do like our chances in landing him, especially with McKay in the picture. And as stated earlier, LU getting friendly with people like Darryl Gladden is a good thing because there very well may be more to come down the road. Keep in mind that kids come to Gladden with dreams and goals of playing in a big-time program. We're in a good position in that several of his mids and overlooked guys could potentially fall to us.

[paradox]

Tailor-made for Liberty. Caner might crap himself though having a guy named "Jonathan Edwards" enrolled at Liberty.

I'm not so sure that Caner is much of a Edwards fan, since Edward's theology leaned toward the Calvanists. Since this is such a big issue for Caner, he may soil himself, afterall

[TDDance234]

I prob. should have clarified that Caner's "soilage" it was in a negative light.