Justin Edwards 'stayed the course' to earn breakthrough: "I've never given up on him."

It became bigger than Xs and Os for Justin Edwards. It wasn’t about fit or style of play, what he brings to the table and where he can make an impact as Kentucky‘s highest-rated recruit out of high school. Sure, he got off to a slow start, but he still found ways to produce at his ‘worst.’

Edwards started his career scoring in double figures in six of his first eight games while averaging over four rebounds per contest in that stretch. Then he failed to hit the double-digit mark in 11 of 12 games and earned fewer than 20 minutes of playing time in seven.

His confidence not only took a hit, but spiraled into a nosedive.

“He’s gotta get himself jumpstarted,” John Calipari said following Edwards’ first single-digit-minute game of the season at Arkansas. “The way you build your confidence is through demonstrated performance on that court. You’ve got to build your own confidence.”

Forget a jumper, it got to the point where we were praying for layups and dunks to fall. Again, not for situational or in-game momentum reasons, but specifically for him. Anything to get that kid rolling. Something.

Then the freshman wing posted a career-high 17 points on 5-10 shooting in 20 minutes at Vanderbilt, adding three assists and two steals while drilling all six free-throw attempts. It was the best all-around game of Edwards’ debut season by a mile. Everything sort of just clicked for the one player on the team who needed things to click.

A caller on Coach Cal’s radio show pointed that out, saying he noticed from his couch the 6-8 freshman was “playing more like he’s letting the game come to him instead of him trying to take himself toward the game.”

Calipari’s response? “You say you’re not one of those couch coaches, but you pegged it. You pegged it.”

That’s been a point of emphasis for the staff behind the scenes as they’ve worked to bring out the best of Edwards — or allow Edwards to bring the best out of Edwards, rather.

“I’m trying to give him a path to let the game come to you. That’s the tweak of it,” Calipari said. “I’m not going to give specifically what I’m doing, but I’m trying to do the same with Adou (Thiero). They fight it because, ‘You don’t understand, I can just go do this.’ And then you say, ‘Why is he forcing? Why is he not letting the game come to him?’ When you do it over and over, you’re missing shots, you’re missing layups. All of a sudden, what happens to your confidence?”

That’s where we saw the playing time take a hit. They couldn’t keep shoving a square peg in a round hole. Calipari wasn’t willing to give up on Edwards and would do whatever it took to help him break through, but it would have to come organically.

And in the meantime, other players deserved their shot to help contribute to winning, too.

“‘Well, why did you leave him in?’ We’re trying to win. That’s why,” Calipari said.

The Arkansas game was the low point of the season for Edwards. A career-low nine minutes and his first scoreless game as a Wildcat, just one shot attempt. Like Coach Cal had done all year, though, he pulled the blue-chip freshman aside and made it clear he still saw the vision for him in Lexington. His time was coming, whether he saw it in himself or not.

“He’s not there yet, but that’s OK,” he said. “I told him I believe in him. I know how good he is.”

Edwards followed that up with a seven-point, four-rebound effort against Tennessee, his best outing since the loss at Texas A&M on Jan. 13. Then came the trip to Nashville, his true breakthrough moment.

“All of a sudden, you see him (at Vanderbilt), he was so comfortable playing,” Calipari said. “He was creating, had his high of assists. How about, if you don’t have a shot — this is a crazy idea — pass it to your teammate. If you pass it to your teammate, on this team, that guy can play too. You’re going to end up with the assist.

“I’m so proud of him because it’s been hard. It’s been hard. He stayed the course, came to me and said, ‘I believe in you.’ And I said, ‘And I believe in you, so let’s get this together.’ I’ve never given up on him. Who shot the free throw for the technical? He did. Because I believe in him. But I can’t do it for him and neither can his teammates.”

Kentucky has needed Edwards all season. And while he may have been physically ready, he just wasn’t quite there yet mentally.

Was a career night at Vanderbilt all he needed to explode down the stretch this season?