Michelle Edwards (basketball)

Unlike many notable basketball players, Edwards did not pick up the game at a young age. She was athletic, but her court of choice was a tennis court. She also skied, and dreamed of becoming the first black Olympic racer, although a case of frostbite cooled her interest in skiing. She spent a lot of time with her older brother Rodney, visiting a local park. He would go to the basketball court, but Edwards usually stopped to play with other girls where the swings were located. As she became a teenager, she started noticing boys, and would head over to the basketball court, not to play, but just to watch. At first, she was too shy to join in, but eventually she did and soon was challenging some of the boys to one-on-one contests. She didn't always win, but she won more than she lost. Her skill soon earned her a nickname "Ice" because of her cool moves. Edwards played high school basketball for Cathedral High in Boston, where she would score over 2000 points in her high school career, the first girl in Massachusetts history to reach that level. Her career earned her a spot in the high school Hall of Fame While in high school she was noticed by Alfreda Harris, a Boston educator who had founded the Shelburne Center in Roxbury Massachusetts, place where Edwards played. Harris would later go on to become the first female head coach at the university of Massachusetts, Boston campus, and later would be inducted into their Hall of Fame. Harris noticed Edwards, and persuaded her to join a local AAU basketball team. College coaches learned about Edwards, and both Virginia and USC showed interest. Virginia sent a young assistant, Geno Auriemma to recruit her. ==College career==

C. Vivian Stringer had cultivated a relationship with Harris while Stringer was at Cheyney State. This relationship continued, even after Stringer moved to take the head coaching position in Iowa. A women interviewing for an assistant coaching position told Stringer about a player she had seen in the Boston area. Stringer had no contact information, and started calling the high school, even though it was summer, trying to contact her. One day, she reached a janitor. She asked if he knew Edwards and he responded, "Who, Ice? Are you kidding me? That girl is the 'truth'." He explained that her coach was Alfreda Harris, so Stringer called Harris. She wasn't sure that Harris would remember her, but she did, and responded, "It's about time, Stringer. She's only the best damn player in America." Stringer began to recruit Edwards. On a recruiting visit, Edwards was embarrassed to admit she didn't know where Iowa was, so Stringer pulled out a map to show her. Stringer convinced her to enroll at Iowa. Edwards recalls missing a layup badly, because she was trying too hard. Coach Stringer consoled her, saying to her"'Do you see that picture? That is how intense that game was and that is the level of play we need to operate on every time we hit the floor." The following week, Iowa was ranked number one in the country 75–65. Edwards was the leading scorer for her team in her sophomore, junior and senior years, scoring a total of 1821 points. She has the third highest scoring total among all Iowa players, and her 235 steals is also third best. She had 431 career assists, which is the second best in school history. ==USA Basketball==

Edwards played with the USA team at the 1991 Pan American Games. The team finished with a record of 4–2, but managed to win the bronze medal. The USA team lost a three-point game to Brazil, then responded with wins over Argentina and Cuba, earning a spot in the medal round. The next game was a rematch against Cuba, and this time the team from Cuba won a five-point game. The USA beat Canada easily to win the bronze. Edwards averaged 4.7 points per game. ==Professional career==

Two years after she graduated, the school honored her by retiring her jersey. Although she appreciated it at the time, the honor did not sink in until years later, when she reflected on all the players that have played at Iowa, and she realized she is the only one to have her jersey retired. She would play for the Rockers for three years, averaging 8.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the team. Edwards was traded to the Seattle Storm on June 11, 2000 for Nina Bjedov. Speaking on the trade, then Head Coach of the Rockers, Dan Hughes stated "Michelle Edwards has meant a lot to this franchise both on the court and off. She has been with the team since the beginning. We owe her the opportunity to be somewhere where she will play". The trade happened after only playing 3 games for the Rockers in the 2000 season. Edwards finished the 2000 season with the Storm, playing in 20 games while averaging 6.6 points, 2.0 assists and 1.7 rebounds. Edwards would only play 3 games in the 2001 season due to having a chronic left foot injury and would announce her retirement the next year on April 17, 2002. Because of this, her final WNBA game ever was the 3rd game she played with the Storm during her shortened 2001 season. That game was played on June 7, 2001 with the Storm falling 57 - 70 to the Miami Sol and Edwards only playing for less than 2 minutes (recording 1 rebound and no other stats). ==Awards and honors==

• 1988—Big Ten Player of the Year • 1988—Kodak All-American • 1988—USBWA All-American • 1988—Naismith All-American • 1988—WBCA Player of the Year • 2014—Women's Basketball Hall of Fame ==WNBA career statistics==

Regular season Playoffs ==Notes==