WVU’s Edwards Named to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List

Originally posted on WV Sports Now | By Ethan Bock | Last updated 10/27/23

WVU big man Jesse Edwards was named to the 2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list on Friday afternoon, per release. Edwards is preparing for his first season with the Mountaineers and his final year of college basketball.

Here’s the full preseason watch list:

Oumar Ballo	Arizona	N’Faly Dante	Oregon
Johni Broome	Auburn	Zach Edey	Purdue
Ryan Kalkbrenner	Creighton	Clifford Omoruyi	Rutgers
Kel’el Ware	Indiana	Joel Soriano	St. John’s
Hunter Dickinson	Kansas	Aday Mara	UCLA
Aaron Bradshaw	Kentucky	Donovan Clingan	UConn
Jordan Brown	Memphis	Josh Cohen	UMass
Dawson Garcia	Minnesota	Branden Carlson	Utah
Armando Bacot	North Carolina	Eric Dixon	Villanova
Jamarion Sharp	Ole Miss	Jesse Edwards	West Virginia

Edwards was also recently named to the Preseason Big 12 Honorable Mention list. Edwards was the only Mountaineer to receive such honors.

Edwards (6-foot-11) is the centerpiece of West Virginia’s transfer portal haul this offseason, coming in as a top-five transfer recruit. Edwards averaged 14.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks on 59 percent shooting from the field during his senior year at Syracuse. Edwards was named to the All-ACC Third Team this past season. Edwards has started for the Orange in the past two years. Edwards played seven minutes against West Virginia in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Edwards has one year of eligibility remaining.

Edwards averaged 18 points and eight rebounds throughout a three-game FIBA Pre-Qualifying group stage for The Netherlands.

This article first appeared on WV Sports Now and was syndicated with permission.

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