Coach Nicki Collen and the Baylor women’s basketball team have been playing without arguably their best player, Dre’una Edwards, all season.
Edwards transferred in from Kentucky after last season, but has not seen game action due to not meeting NCAA transfer requirements.
If you have been following our women’s basketball coverage this season, then you know what Edwards was up against just to put on the green and gold jersey. She had to make up hours that Baylor did not accept in the transfer enrollment process and she had to, for a lack of a better term, be released by her former team, Kentucky.
Our sources had always been expecting for Edwards to gain eligibility by mid-January at the start of the spring semester. By then she would have completed all necessary course work. Kentucky also had to sign final paperwork for Edwards to play, which our sources believed would not be a problem.
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For the first time this season, Edwards released a statement about her playing status on Twitter:
“The next and final step is for Kentucky and head women’s basketball coach Kyra Elzy to sign off on a final waiver. I was hopeful Kentucky would sign off to let me compete this season, as they have told me before that they hope nothing but the best for me. But instead, they will not sign the waiver.”
Kentucky Coach Elzy read a scripted statement about Edwards in a press conference that was shaky, unemphatic and all-around awkward. It was reminiscent of Dwight Schrute stating his regret by reading that he stated his regret.
Elzy continuously had to look down at her sheet of paper to essentially say that signing the NCAA No Participation Opportunity form would admit that Edwards would not have had an opportunity to participate at Kentucky this season, which ‘would not have been correct’.
Edwards was the Pac-12 freshman of the year in 2018-19 and then transfer to Kentucky where she sat out her first season and then played in the last two. Since she is transferring for a second time, without having obtained her degree, NCAA rules stipulate that she must sit out a year unless her previous school signs a waiver.
A few years ago, it was more commonplace for a coach to not sign a waiver or to disallow transfers or stipulate which schools their player could transfer to. And it is more than reasonable to have some policies in place in order to prevent top schools from poaching players to stack their rosters. It is important both to teach the lesson of honoring your commitment as well as ensure fair competition.
But times have changed. And keeping Edwards sidelined while technically correct is simply spiteful by Kentucky and hypocritical by the NCAA.
Edwards would not disclose what happened, but it is a good guess that the environment may have begun to turn toxic in Lexington. Last year, the Wildcats ended the season on a 10-game winning streak that included four straight in the SEC tourney–including victories over LSU, Tennessee and South Carolina–to win the title before they were upset by Princeton in the first round of the NCAAWT.
That team is gone. Rhyne Howard was drafted in the WNBA and starters Treasure Hunt and Jazmine Massengill transferred to Arizona State and Florida State respectively. This was Hunt’s first transfer and Massengill’s second but as a grad transfer.
Losing her entire team and beginning 0-4 in SEC play is undoubtedly playing a small role in this feud in Elzy’s subconscious. And even if she is right, Elzy and Kentucky’s determination to prove a point showcases poor character and has larger consequences for the entire sport of women’s college basketball.
First, not allowing the best players to play–no matter where that is– is to the detriment of the entire women’s game. People love to hate women’s sports for any number of unjustified reasons. Not allowing the biggest superstars in the game to take the court is only adding fuel to the fire.
Second, this is just a bad look for Kentucky. Truthfully, this is a bad look for all parties involved (fairly or unfairly) but since few details are being shared and this is a pro-player era, Kentucky is going to get the brunt of the blowback.
However, there is good reason for that as this is another example of a player doing everything for a school and coach without getting much in return. Edwards has the biggest shot in school history–an SEC championship-winning three-point shot with seconds left to beat No. 1 South Carolina–and it directly lead to a contract extension for Elzy.
Elzy makes $400,000 as a base salary and another $175,000 in endorsements, but her contract extension after the title doubled her endorsement compensation this year and then adds an additional $25,000 each season through the 2027 season.
While profiting directly from Edwards, Elzy has made a decision to hold Edwards hostage.
She may be right in principle, although it reminds me of the comedian Mike Birbiglia’s standup special where he is told to ‘do the right thing’ and pay for the car repairs of the guy who hit him despite not being at fault.
Not only should Kentucky do the right thing and just let Edwards play in this instance, but so should the NCAA.
Again, the NCAA has thrown caution to the wind the past few years and is not enforcing anything at this point with a lame duck president. The transfer portal, NIL deals and more shady activity are being done daily without the fear of any repercussions.
One of the things that the NCAA has allowed was both an extra year of eligibility due to Covid and the ability to transfer one time without needing to sit out a year.
This is the second transfer for Edwards, but she already sat out a year after transferring to Kentucky from Utah. Therefore, Edwards has not even been able to use the free one-time transfer policy to her benefit.
I would argue that more than anything else is the biggest argument for Edwards returning to the court this season.
But it seems that the NCAA will sit on the sidelines, not advocate for women’s sports yet again, and let grudges by coaches directly affect an athlete’s ability to play; their mental health and their financial well-being in the NIL era.
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