Justin Edwards on Competing, Trash-Talking, and Dunking On Everybody

Kentucky Sports Radio spent seven minutes with new Kentucky forward Justin Edwards on Thursday, part of Edwards’ introductory press conference with the local media in Lexington. Next week, the Philadelphia native will make his Wildcat debut as John Calipari’s highest-rated recruit in his top-rated 2023 recruiting class.

But first, Edwards fulfilled his first media obligation as a collegiate athlete.

Among the things we learned in the conversation, Edwards’ confidence in his game and his team stood out the most. First, the big picture. He believes Kentucky has the make-up and the competitive drive to be special in 2023-24, and he is eager to get to Canada for the first rehearsal.

“I’m really excited because I’m really confident with our squad this year. I feel like we can accomplish a lot of big things that a lot of people think we can’t do, so I just want to go out there and show people that we are ready to play.”

Though their time together is still new, Edwards said Kentucky’s summer practices are intense because he and all of his teammates are natural competitors committed to the work.

“We’re all competing, and we all want to win as a whole,” he said. “Nobody’s trying to be selfish or anything.”

Edwards also admitted he wasn’t concerned about how the final roster would turn out when many outsiders worried if Calipari would find pieces to surround Kentucky’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class.

“We’re just here to play basketball… We knew (Cal) was going to get players, so we just focused on the main thing.”

Kentucky’s best trash-talker

With outside competition a week away, the team has played a lot of 5-on-5 to prepare for Kentucky’s appearance at GloblJam. Naturally, the scrimmages have led to in-house trash talk among teammates. Once Edwards revealed the new class of ‘Cats is a talkative bunch, he was asked to name the player who talks the most trash behind closed doors.

Edwards thought momentarily, then replied, “I’ll say myself.”

There’s that self-confidence.

When asked to name one of his go-to lines, Edwards played into the media’s questioning, admitting, “I’ll call somebody a bum or something,” with a laugh.

But the playful smile hides a dog Kentucky fans will soon see on the basketball court. Edwards plays with a ferocity that he can’t contain against his own teammates. By that, I mean he wants to dunk on everybody.

Thursday @KentuckyMBB update: @Jedwards3_ is trying to dunk on everyone. pic.twitter.com/c9KkxGS2Hr

— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) July 6, 2023

Focused on now

Edwards was open about his dreams of eventually becoming a first-round draft pick, but he tunes out any NBA conversations right now. Just last week, USA Today’s new mock draft named Edwards its projected No. 1 overall pick.

“I look at it like rankings. I don’t really pay it no mind. I just feel like, you know, everybody has an opinion. So, I don’t really pay it any mind, just play basketball.”

Edwards and Kentucky play basketball at GloblJam beginning July 12.

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