Report: North Texas transfer Jason Edwards commits to Vanderbilt

North Texas transfer Jason Edwards has committed to Vanderbilt out of the NCAA transfer portal, his agent tells college basketball insider Jeff Borzello.

Edwards averaged 19.1 points for North Texas last season, playing in 34 games and starting 22 for the Mean Green. He transferred into the program last offseason from junior college.

While his scoring abilities were on full display last season, he averaged 2.3 turnovers per game as North Texas’ primary ball-handler. Entering the SEC next season, cutting back on turnovers while improving upon his 1.4 assists per game would be a huge step in his development under first-year head coach Mark Byington.

As a scorer, Edwards scored 20 or more points in 13 games this past season, including five instances of him scoring 30 or more points for the Mean Green. Those include back-to-back 31-point scoring performances against UAB and USF in February, and a career-high 37-point outing against against Tulane the month prior.

His final showcase of the season saw North Texas fall to Seton Hall 72-58 in the second round of the NIT, where Edwards scored 23 points and recorded three steals while playing 38 minutes.

Edwards has also proven to be a reliable shooter, not just a scorer. He finished with a 42.5 percent shooting percentage on the season while making 35.0 percent of the shots that he took from beyond the arc. Nearly half of his total shot attempts this past season came from taking a 3-pointer. On top of that, he’s reliable at the charity stripe as an 80.7 percent free throw shooter heading into the 2024 season.

Vanderbilt has been swiftly building their roster for this coming season, as the Commodores recently gained another commitment out of the transfer portal from former Davidson guard Grant Huffman. One of the more complete guard prospects in the portal, Huffman averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game last year.

During the 2022-2023 season, Huffman served as the team captain for the Wildcats, averaging 10.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game in league play. He ranked among the league leaders in the A-10 in assists (11th), assist/turnover ratio (3rd), and steals (14th). Huffman scored in double figures 16 times for Davidson.

Huffman and Edwards will join a couple of former Virginia Tech standouts on the Commodores roster, shooting guard MJ Collins and small forward Tyler Nickel. Collins averaged 29.5 minutes per game this past season for the Hokies, stuffing the stat sheet with 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report.