Syracuse Basketball: Jesse Edwards competing for Dutch national team

Syracuse basketball senior center Jesse Edwards looks to capitalize on a strong junior season, before he got injured this past February, and put forth a senior year where I believe he could absolutely contend for All-ACC honors.

The 6-foot-11 Edwards, a native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, is joining the Dutch national team this week, according to a press release from SU Athletics.

The statement says that Jesse Edwards, one of the leading shot-blockers in the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 2021-22 campaign, will play in international competitions such as World Cup qualifying and EuroBasket, which is also known as the European Basketball Championship.

Per the cuse.com release, Edwards has both trained and played with the Dutch national squad over the course of the last two summers. By the way, if you want to find box scores for when Edwards plays for the Dutch national team, it looks like they can be found here.

Syracuse basketball center Jesse Edwards is suiting up for his home country’s national group.

There are a couple of other U.S. college players who are also on the Dutch national unit, such as Quinten Post, a senior forward with Boston College, and two players from Bradley, junior forward Rienk Mast and senior forward Malevy Leons.

Playing for the Dutch national team should prove an outstanding experience for Jesse Edwards, who was in the midst of a break-out stanza for the Orange when he unfortunately got injured earlier this year.

Edwards’ absence toward the end of the 2021-22 regular season was brutal for the ‘Cuse, with Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim even saying that Edwards’ injury proved a massive blow to the team’s chances of reaching a post-season tournament, whether the Big Dance or, more likely, the NIT.

In 2021-22, Jesse Edwards appeared in 24 games. He averaged 28.0 minutes, 12.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 1.1 steals and 1.0 assists per affair, while hitting on 69.5 percent from the field.

Looking ahead to the 2022-23 term, which begins this November, Edwards will be one of the senior leaders and veterans on an Orange roster that also includes a lot of underclassmen.

Unless something unforeseen occurs, Edwards will be the starting center for the ‘Cuse during the 2022-23 season. If he is equally as good, or better, than a stanza ago, Edwards could make one of the All-ACC teams.

The keys, naturally, are for Jesse Edwards to remain healthy and also avoid foul trouble. His presence on both ends of the floor for Syracuse basketball is undeniably quite valuable.