Canadian Star Aaliyah Edwards Coming To Connecticut

The Huskies have announced that five-star forward Aaliyah Edwards will
join the team. Geno Auriemma compares Edwards to Napheesa Collier.

By Bob Phillips

STORRS—The UConn women’s basketball team is renowned for the recruiting prowess of head

coach Geno Auriemma and his staff from sea to shining sea. In the past, the Huskies have also had some international success in recruiting, having reached out to the Soviet Union for Svetlana Abrosimova, and Poland (Ania Makurat) for world-class talent. Earlier this year, Nika Muhl, a guard from Croatia, committed to the Huskies. And now, you can add the Great White North to the list. The Huskies’ landed a commitment from Aaliyah Edwards, a five-star forward from Canada yesterday.

Edwards, who comes to Storrs via Crestwood Preparatory College in Toronto, is ranked as the No. 26 player in the class of 2020 by ESPN. She joins a class that already is top-heavy in talent, highlighted by Paige Bueckers (ranked No. 1 overall) and No. 21 Mir McLean. Edwards chose UConn over many other top programs, including Baylor, Louisville, Maryland, Notre Dame and Oregon. One might suspect that Connecticut’s 11 national championships had something to do with the latest star recruit’s decision, which was revealed to head coach Geno Auriemma last weekend at First Night, which she attended.

“It was a great feeling just to tell him,” Edwards told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I actually just broke down because it’s been a lot going through the process. A lot of decisions that you really don’t think you need to make are necessary to make.

“Just for him to him to kind of give me that hug back and embrace me, and just say, ‘I got you and I’m glad that we got you, and we’re going to do magic together,’ I was just really grateful.”

Last month, after having made her national team debut at the age of 16, Edwards put on an impressive performance at the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico. She scored nine points in 18 minutes during a loss to the United States in the gold medal game. Auriemma has compared the 6-2 Edwards to one of his prior world-class recruits, Napheesa Collier, because of her agility and overall athleticism.

Edwards’ mother, Jackie Edwards, said that Auriemma, himself, was perhaps the major factor (outside of the aforementioned 11 national championships, of course), in the family’s decision for Aaliyah to spend her next for years in Storrs.

“I think the thing that stands out for us with Coach Geno is he cares about his athletes,” she said. “He cares about the well-being of the girls [and] he is very respectful and embracing of a family. It’s not just about the game. We could see that rock star side of what a lot of people talked about before we started the process, but we really saw a family man that has a great deal of respect for the girls.”

—with staff reports