Eugene Edgerson

#33

Position: Forward

Class/Experience: Senior/3L

Height: 6-6

Weight: 230

Hometown: New Orleans, La.

High School: St. Augustine HS



General: After redshirting last season in order to accomplish his goal of getting his degree and teaching certificate at the UA in four years, he returns for his fifth year in the program and will be a welcome return to the lineup... As part of his undergraduate degree requirement, he student taught kindergarten during last year's spring semester... Graduated with a degree in elementary education last May and is now pursing a master's degree... One of the three members of this year's team who was on Arizona's 1997 NCAA championship team... Along with teammates Justin Wessel and John Ash, he gets the chance to go after a fourth ring during his UA career, looking to add to his 97 NCAA Championships and 1997-98 and 1999-00 Pac-10 title rings... With 93 career games under his belt, he has played in the most games of any of the current Wildcats and in every game but two during his career. Gives the Cats the defensive and rebounding intensity that was missed at various times last year... A relentless rebounder who is one of the hardest workers on the team... Arizona fan favorite because of his work ethic.

1998-99 (Junior): Arizona's sixth man most of the year, he came into the lineup to spell the frontline performers... Tied for the third-best rebounding average (4.8 rpg) and scored 5.2 ppg... Started the first three games of the season before missing the fourth against Wyoming... He was suspended for that game by Arizona coaches because of an elbow he threw in the BYU game... Returned to the starting lineup after that in the home win over UC-Irvine and responded with a then-season-high 10 points and seven rebounds... That game was his last as a starter... Had the same numbers in the Holy Cross victory... Back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the first time in his career, going for a season-high 13 at home against Arizona State on his 21st birthday and 12 versus Louisiana State... Also combined for 14 rebounds in those two games as well (6/8)... Played in every game but one (Wyoming)... Scored nine points and grabbed eight boards versus Washington State in Tucson... In that game, played tenacious defense, so much so, WSU coach Kevin Eastman said, I think our guys were intimidated by Eugene Edgerson. Even though they wouldn't say it, you could see it in their faces.... Career-high four steals to go with four rebounds against California in Tucson... Grew out his afro so, as he said, it resembled his old-school game... Also wore a pair of old Nikes that were originally ordered for Arizona's Jud Buechler back in the late 80s... Buechler never picked up the shoes and Edgerson came across them in the UA equipment room... Was the subject of a full page photo essay in an ESPN Magazine photo essay on the return of the afro to sports... Hit on 70.5% of his free throw attempts... As a freshman, shot only 40% from the line.

1997-98 (Sophomore): Third leading rebounder on the squad at 5.2 rpg, while scoring 4.5 ppg... Played 17.3 mpg... Had five double-digit rebounding outings, highlighted by his career-high 13 boards versus Washington State in Tucson... Played only 21 minutes in that contest... Led Arizona in scoring for the first and only time of his career in the season-opening win over Morgan State... Posted his first double-double in that outing with a career-high 17 points to go with a game-high 12 rebounds... He and Jason Terry were the only players besides Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon to record team-high scoring honors in any of the UA's 35 games... Led the team in rebounding eight times... Followed his 13-rebound performance against WSU with a 12-rebound game at Arizona State... Two games later, went for 10 rebounds at Oregon... Of those 10 rebounds, seven came in 10 minutes of play in the first half... In Pac-10 play, he had a free throw percentage of 73.2% (30-41), a huge improvement over his mark of 31.7% from the line in Pac-10 games when he was a freshman... 12 points at Washington... 10 rebounds against New Mexico... Probably gained the most of any player on Arizona's off-season trip to Australia... Developed his hook shot on that 23-day, nine-game excursion.

1996-97 (Freshman): Came off the bench to average 11.6 minutes of playing time during the Cats national championship season... Played in every game but one (at Arizona State)... Scored 2.7 ppg and grabbed 3.7 rpg... Improved his game as the season wore on and began to see more playing time... Pulled down 16 rebounds at the Final Four, nine versus North Carolina and seven against Kentucky... Filled in nicely for a foul-plagued Bennett Davison in the national semifinal win over the Tar Heels... His then-career-high nine rebounds came on two separate occasions -- both against the Tar Heels (UA opened the season versus UNC)... Five points and four rebounds in the upset of No. 1 seed Kansas in the Sweet 16... Played a part in the Wildcats' defensive show against the taller KU front line... Also scored seven points and had five boards against Tulane... Had a then-career-best 13 points against Jackson State to go with eight boards -- seven of which were on the offensive glass... Sprained his ankle in the Utah game and only played six minutes versus Texas.

High School: Prepped at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, La... Averaged 18 ppg, 14 rpg, 5 apg and 5 bpg as a senior... A four-year letterman for head coach Bernard Griffith... New Orleans Times-Picayune Large School's Player of the Year as a senior... First-team All-State 5A selection... Louisiana Sportswriters Association All-State player... McDonald's All-American nominee... Was a member of the honor roll, sporting a 3.8 GPA... Prior to his senior season, he was named to USA Today's Preseason Super 25 High School team... Helped lead St. Augustine HS -- the same school that produced the New Jersey Nets' Kerry Kittles -- to USA Today's mythical national championship as a junior... Averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds and three blocks per game... MVP of the Las Vegas Adidas Big Time Tournament... His team also captured the tournament title... Captain of his high school team as a senior... Excels either on the wing or as a power forward... Recruiter's Handbook No. 23 prep senior in the country... Also recruited by North Carolina, Syracuse, Connecticut and Villanova... A member of the Who's Who in Sports as a senior.

Personal: Eugene Julian Edgerson... Prefers to go by the first name of Gene... Born 2-10-78... Son of Suzan Edgerson... Has two brothers, Chad and Garrett and a sister, Sage... Likes photography, reading children's literature, baseball card collecting, traveling and cats... He is a proud member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity... Likes to model his rebounding tenacity after Dennis Rodman... After viewing an Australian Rules Football game in Melbourne, said he wants to play that sport if things don't work out for him in hoops.



Edgerson's Career Statistics

Season G-GS Min. FG-FGA Pct. 3Pt. Pct. FT-FTA Pct. OR/DR Tot./Avg. Ast. St. Blk. TO PF-DQ Pts.-Avg. 1999-00 Redshirt Season 1998-99 28-4 500 44-87 .506 0-1 .000 57-80 .712 70/64 134/4.8 8 23 4 37 78-3 145-5.2 1997-98 35-3 606 51-105 .486 0-0 .000 57-81 .704 83/100 183/5.2 13 17 16 32 65-1 159-4.5 1996-97 33-0 384 29-71 .408 0-0 .000 31-76 .408 62/60 122/3.7 6 16 5 20 52-0 89-2.7 Career 93-7 1490 124-263 .471 0-1 .000 145-237 .612 215/22 4439/4.7 27 56 25 89 195-4 393-4.3

Postseason Statistics