Camden High star and South Carolina women's basketball commit Joyce Edwards is your 2024 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Making the win even better, Edwards got a surprise visit from WNBA All-Star and Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally to break to her the awesome news.
Edwards was joined by Jaloni Cambridge from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, and Kennedy Smith from Etiwanda High School as finalists for the prestigious honor. In the end, however, Edwards' accomplishments and on-court performance made her really stand out from the rest of the competition. She is the no. 2-ranked recruit in the class of 2024 by ESPN, and it's worth noting that the 18-year-old rising star just won the SC Gatorade Player of the Year for the second straight year.
Now, the Gamecocks recruit joins a club that features incredible individuals to have won the accolade, such as Caitlin Clark, JuJu Watkins, Kiki Rice and Paige Bueckers, to name a few. It is one of the most prestigious high school awards in the nation, and it speaks volumes of what Edwards is capable of. Previous winners have actually combined to produce nine WNBA MVPs, 53 All-Star appearances and 15 WNBA championships. Furthermore, 15 past winners became WNBA first-round draft picks, with two others proceeding to become Hall of Famers.
“I would say it's just unreal. I'm still taken aback from the experience. But I'm just grateful that other people saw what I think of myself in me. And obviously, it's the overall award–[including] character, what I do in the community–so I just think that part of it is really great. It's just not on-the-court stuff, so it just let me knows as a person that I'm really well-rounded,” Edwards told ClutchPoints.
Joyce Edwards gets awesome Satou Sabally surprise
On Wednesday, Sabally headed to South Carolina to surprise Edwards with the award, and sure enough, it was epic. When asked about the experience, the teenage sensation still couldn't believe it.
“I seen her and, obviously, everybody knows she plays in the WNBA. I mean, I'm trying to get where she's at now, and the fact that she's there honoring me with this award is so crazy. [And for Satou] to just take the time out just to give this to me, I'm just honored,” Edwards said of Sabally with a wide smile on her face.
Sabally, who was beside Edwards during this interview, was simply honored to share the moment with another rising star in women's basketball. According to the Wings forward, when she was told about presenting the accolade to Edwards, she got to learn more about her and was amazed by what the youngster has accomplished both on and off the court.
“I was told that I have the honor of presenting the award, and I'm like ‘Okay, who's Joyce? Aight' I looked her up, I watched some film on her and I was really impressed, just by her skillset. And then obviously, afterwards, I learned about her academic achievements–I mean 4.0 GPA–going to South Carolina, that is just an amazing accomplishment–so many amazing accomplishments already. So being able to do so was a great deal for me and a no-brainer,” Sabally said, adding that it's all worth it to fly out to South Carolina and see the smile on Edwards' face.
The 25-year-old Sabally also shared some tips for Edwards as she takes the next step in her career. As someone who has gone through the ups and downs of basketball, the former Oregon standout kept her advice simple: trust herself.
“I would say trusting your mind. Obviously, you already said you go out there to play basketball. So that's what you do and you know you can do. So just trust that, trust the work you put in and the results are gonna come. It sounds real simple … and I feel like she can trust whatever she's been doing. She's been doing great, so I'm really excited for that,” Sabally added.
What's next for Joyce Edwards?
After her incredible win, Joyce Edwards isn't thinking too much about the future. She's currently preparing for the McDonald's All-American and is clearly excited for it. However, when asked about her commitment to Dawn Staley and South Carolina women's basketball, Edwards couldn't help but share her expectations and talk about the challenge that awaits.
“Just continue to do what I am doing now. Obviously I have college coming up at USC (South Carolina Gamecocks), the best program or one of the best programs in the country. At the end of the day when I get there, it's not gonna matter. You just come in, try to work as hard as I can to get where I need to be. But just to help USC and be available when my name is called up,” Edwards added.
She also emphasized that she's ready to put in the work. Edwards understands that joining an established program like South Carolina won't be easy, but she doesn't want easy. As she aims to become the best version of herself, she knows she needs to play with the best.
“South Carolina–best program in the country, they are no. 1, undefeated. I feel like for some people it can be intimidating going into that, cause you think to yourself, ‘Well they don't need me,' ‘Do I get a lot of playing time?' But I feel like that's one of the things that attracted me to them. It's just the fact that they are all great players, and I'm gonna compete with the best players in the country everyday in practice and make myself better. But I'm just gonna try my best to work outside of practice, get extra shots up,” Edwards continued.
For what it's worth, Edwards also acknowledged how much different joining the Gamecocks would be for her. She got a bit emotional as she mentioned her father, who has always been with her throughout her basketball journey. As she takes that next step, her dad will no longer be with her–a challenge that Edwards knows would be quite difficult to overcome but something she welcomes.
“I feel like it's going to be a different challenge for me only because I don't have my father there. I mean he trained me all my life. I'm not going to do it by myself, obviously I'm going to have the staff there. But I think I'm up for the challenge.”
It will definitely be interesting to see how Edwards progresses in her career. Winning the 2024 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year shows she's in the right path, but her journey is just getting started. The good thing is she also has the right mentality and approach to the game to succeed.
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