Kentucky's five-star freshman Justin Edwards has spent most of the year trying to figure his role out as a star guard within one of the most attention-given programs in all of College Basketball. Quickly becoming one of the players in this accoladed freshmen class to not immediately display the projections that were put on him from the moment he became a Wildcat took a tole on him mentally and I'd say has been likely one of the toughest challenges he's faced in his young 20 years of life.
Watching all of his peers have individual success while he gets the same reps was like teasing someone until they're absolutely miserable. In fact, we've seen five other Kentucky players reach the 20-point mark this season before Justin Edwards was able to on Saturday night. His career-high was 17 points just under a month ago at Vanderbilt, which came exactly three months into the regular season or 22 games in.
But with actions come results, and from not producing at a high level from the moment he hit the floor in front of the Big Blue Nation crowd surfaced the mental struggles that came from this adjustment period for Edwards. Too many times to count this year during the pre and post game interviews we've heard multiple teammates advocate for him as he's faced his struggles, informing us all of the mental hoops he's managed during its course. Thankfully, he had many people in his corner waiting for this moment. I mean, the head coach wouldn't even budge into taking him out of the starting lineup unless due to injury in hopes of forcing him to play through all of this and finally find his groove. After 27 long games, he finally broke through.
His heartfelt breakout night against top-thirteen ranked Alabama was one I won't forget for a long time. He went for a career-high 28 points and hit four three-pointers along the way. It wasn't just that he found the inside of the rim a bunch, it was the way it all unfolded. He went 10-for-10 on shooting and walked off the floor with a standing ovation from the home crowd. It was done in an effort of the player that it was clear it's was just his night and that you just need to feed him until the final buzzer goes off. He went nuclear. Between the and-one three-pointers which had him laying on the floor as a result to finishing at the rim through the physical contact, Justin Edwards didn't shy away from his hot hand in this game. You could tell he felt locked-in and was feeding off the momentum of his hot start. We got to see smiles, his arms shrug up like Michael Jordan so famously did acknowledging he was making each jumper. The teammates were working to get him more shots and were clapping in support after each one. It was a really cool moment to see and the Saturday afternoon that the Alabama Crimson Tide came into Rupo Arena during the 2023-24 season will forever be remembered as the "Justin Edwards Game."
His performance became just the third-best perfect shooting game in Kentucky Basketball history, placing behind Rodney Dent's 12-for-12 vs. Morehead State on Dec. 17, 1993 and Kenny Walker's 11-of-11 vs. Western Kentucky on March 16, 1986.
Even through the wins and losses, this team has been tight-knit from the very beginning showing endless love and support for each other, happy for each other's growth. Justin told us that Reed Sheppard early on connected him with his own mental health coach and Justin's advice to anyone else struggling in life is pretty simple. “It’s not going to rain forever. Stay the course and believe in God.”
You can listen to Justin in our postgame interview that came just moments after he walked off the court and received a standing ovation from the home crowd, bench, and coaching staff.