Justin Edwards (basketball)


Justin Stefan Edwards is a Canadian professional basketball player for Cluj of the Romanian Liga Națională. He played college basketball for Maine and Kansas State before playing professionally in Hungary, Italy, South Korea, France and Israel.

College career

Edwards played two seasons at Maine and averaged 16.7 points and 5.2 rebounds as a sophomore. He transferred to Kansas State and sat out a season. As a junior at Kansas State, he posted 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Before his senior year, he exercised more in anticipation for an expanded role and led the Wildcats to a 7-1 start. Edwards had his best game at Kansas State in his last match, an 85-63 loss to Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals; he scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. As a senior, he averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

Professional career

2016–17 season

On July 28, 2016, Edwards started his professional career with the Hungarian Alba Fehérvár, signing a one-year deal. On November 2, 2016, Edwards recorded 22 points by playing just 24 minutes, shooting 9-of-11 from the field, along with three rebounds, six assists and three steals in 111–91 blowout win over Élan Chalon. He was subsequently named FIBA Europe Cup Top Performer of Week 3.
Edwards won the 2017 Hungarian Cup and the 2017 Hungarian League Championship titles with Alba, leading the team to its first titles in five years. In 47 games played during the 2016–17 season, he averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

2017–18 season

On June 27, 2017, Edwards joined the Toronto Raptors for the 2017 NBA Summer League.
On July 24, 2017, Edwards signed with the Italian team Orlandina Basket. On November 12, 2017, Edwards recorded 24 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, along with six rebounds, four assists and three steals in an 88–81 win over Dinamo Sassari. He was subsequently named LBA Round 7 MVP.
On November 20, 2017, Edwards was transferred from Orlandina to the South Korean team Goyang Orions. On December 5, 2017, Edwards recorded a career-high 41 points, shooting 17-of-30 from the field, along with seven rebounds, three assists and four steals in a 100–99 win over the Seoul Samsung Thunders. In 38 games played for the Orions, he averaged 17.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
On March 3, 2018, Edwards joined the French team Nanterre 92 for the rest of the season. Edwards helped Nanterre reach the 2018 Pro A Playoffs, where they eventually were eliminated by Strasbourg.

2018–19 season

On July 24, 2018, Edwards signed a one-year deal with the Israeli team Ironi Nahariya. However, on December 13, 2018, Edwards parted ways with Nahariya after appearing in seven games.

2019–20 season

On August 29, 2019, Edwards returned to Hungary for a second stint, signing with Egis Körmend for the 2019–20 season.

2020–21 season

On July 6, 2020, he has signed with Cluj of the Romanian Liga Națională.