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Earlier this week, Christian had a breakdown of two Vanderbilt basketball recruiting targets in Braxton Blackwell and Javin Montgomery-DeLaurier, both of whom could sign with the Commodores in the fall.
But there are other targets as well. Certainly, at this point Stallings is not about to assume that either of them wind up in the fold and in any case, Stallings may have another scholarship or two opening up in the spring. (I'll let you all speculate as to who might open up a scholarship. I'm not about to jinx it...)
One target that has shot up the recruiting board this summer is Carsen Edwards of Atascocita High School in Humble, TX. Stallings has signed a player from the Houston area in each of the last two classes (Jeff Roberson, Samir Sehic) and looks to be going back to the well for Edwards. Edwards plays the point, a long-term need for the basketball program as there is currently only one true point guard on the roster in Wade Baldwin IV.
Edwards is a three-star recruit according to Rivals, Scout, and 247 Sports. Scout ranks him as the #23 PG prospect in the country; 247's composite ranking has him as the #46 PG prospect but their "in-house" ranking sees him as the #28 PG prospect. His list of offers includes a lot of local mid-major programs like Rice and Houston (note: it should be pointed out here that he's probably a good student if Rice is offering him), but he also has a few Power Five offers from schools like Baylor, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, and Purdue. The Boilermakers, whom Edwards officially visited last month, seem to be our main competition.
Here's some video on Edwards:
What stands out to me in the video -- well, aside from the fact that 6'0" is probably a stretch (he's actually listed at 5'10" on his high school team's roster; maybe Luke Kornet can tell us for sure when he comes for a visit) -- is that while he's not exceptionally quick or a great leaper, he's crafty at getting to the basket. He shows off crisp passing ability and a nice jump shot to go with it.
In short, Edwards doesn't look like a superstar, but he looks like the kind of player whom Kevin Stallings can get a lot of mileage from. I hope I'm not misremembering things here, but he kind of reminds me of Alex Gordon. That could be a reasonable ceiling for him, and if that's the case then Vandy may be getting a good one who fills a long-term need for the program.