Eastern Washington University Athletics

With more than 1,900 points as a collegian, Edwards had two of the greatest scoring seasons in school history in the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons. In 1953-54 he scored 475 points for a 19.00 average that stood as a school record for 18 years. He scored 444 and averaged 18.5 the following season as he finished his three-year career with 1,214 points and a 15.77 average in 77 games that stood as the school record for 17 years. If the three-point shot existed in those days, he probably would have averaged between 23-24 points per game as a junior and senior when his long-range sharp-shooting became legendary. He still holds the school's career free throw percentage record (84.9 percent), and held the single season record (85.8 percent) for 47 years. Three times he was honored on the All-Evergreen Conference team, including second team honors in 1953 and first team honors in 1954 and 1955. Named by the legendary Red Reese as one of the greatest basketball players he ever coached, Edwards was team MVP in both 1954 and 1955 and was team captain in 1955. Eastern was 23-5 his first season on the team in 1952-53, finishing 11-1 in the Evergreen Conference to win an EvCo championship the school wouldn't win again for 23 years. He was an All-City basketball player before graduating from North Central High School in Spokane in 1950. He scored nearly 300 points as a freshman at Whitworth in the 1950-51 season, including a total of 20 points in two games against Eastern and fellow Hall of Fame basketball players Dick Eicher and Pat Whitehill. He transferred to Eastern the following season and had to sit out, but scored 438 points while playing for the school's junior varsity squad. In his first stint with the Eastern varsity in the 1952-53 school year he scored 295 points in 28 games for a 10.5 average. He was Eastern's first-ever ROTC Brigade Commander as a senior, and graduated in 1955 as a Second Lieutenant Infantry. He served three years in U.S. Army Rangers Airborne before working for Boeing. He returned to Spokane in 1972 to take over his family's business -- Inland Roofing & Supply, Inc. He helped start the Eagle Athletic Association in 1983.