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Seton Hall senior Fuquan Edwin feels that he has had a mixed career, marred with too many losses.

(Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger)

When Seton Hall took the floor on Friday night before its game against Providence, there was Fuquan Edwin on the sideline, dressed in street clothes. A thumb injury held him out of the Pirates' second-to-last home game of the season, the latest pothole on a road that has been anything but normal for the senior.

He has spent his career caught between two worlds: Playing all four of his seasons under head coach Kevin Willard, after being recruited to South Orange by Willard's predecessor, Bobby Gonzalez.

With Edwin set to appear at the Prudential Center for the final time as a college player on Monday night against Xavier, his departure feels like the changing of the guard. He is the last connection to the Gonzalez era and only the 10th player since 2006 to be recruited to and play all four years with the Pirates.

Edwin has built himself from a kid from the worst streets of Paterson with an awkward-looking shot, into one of the best defensive players in Seton Hall history, smashing the school record for steals. Some say he has a future in the NBA, others wonder how a player that good has never played in a NCAA Tournament game in his career.

But even as Edwin prepares to bid farewell to Seton Hall, there is a sense of disappointment and work left undone. Edwin himself knows this, sensing the angst among the fan base for expectations not met.

Before he suits up one last time in a Seton Hall uniform, Edwin reflected upon his four-year career, presenting this account in his own words:

"I wouldn't necessarily say I keep in touch.

I see people who I know who lived in the projects and it's all love. Everyone is family. When we connect, everyone asks how I'm doing. They see me working and they see I'm doing good.

"It feels good, because because that was all the guys' dreams. Even the guys who took the wrong path. They look at me like, 'I made it.' When we were young, we were all doing the same things. We would do bad stuff together and still play sports together. But I was playing sports more than the guys that didn't make it out.

"In Paterson, there was the AAU program, the Playaz — which is very known. The guys that run that organization are good people and they want to see kids become successful. So they do everything in their power to make that happen. I met new people, another set of friends. So I had my project friends and then my friends who came from good families and big houses. Guys like Shaquille Thomas, I would go stay at his house for like two weeks and then go home for two days and then go back by his house. I would try to stay over there and it just kept me out of trouble.

"I could've easily went the opposite way twice. My senior year, I didn't know where I was going to high school at. I think when I went to Paterson Catholic, it kept me around people who were like me. I think if I would've went to Eastside High School, it would've just been a different environment.

"There was a lot of fights going on in there and the blacks had to watch out for the Spanish (gangs). Blacks versus Spanish, there was always a riot going on at Eastside. And I could leave school whenever. It wasn't strict like at Paterson Catholic, where I had to wear uniforms and once you were in the building, you couldn't leave, and I had friends who loved the game of basketball like me."

"I don't regret anything.

I don't regret anything right now. The one thing that I will say is that I wish we would've won. That's about it.

"It's hard. I know for a fact that I leave it all on the court when I play. That's why I say, 'I don't regret anything.' I never find myself saying, 'Oh, I wish I had played harder in that game.' No one is perfect. I'm a basketball player. I make mistakes. Making a mistake or anything like that, that's part of the game. I don't regret anything. I think I left it all on the court. One hundred percent.

"It was tough. That (2011-12) was a bumpy season. I think we fought hard and I think we had a pretty good solid year that year to make (the NCAA Tournament). But to come up that short, knowing what type of season we had, was hard.

"I think my legacy is going hard out there, 100 percent. I think what I'll be remembered for is playing hard. I didn't think about that when I came here, but I came here and wanted to do something special. My senior year, when I came to a few games, just sitting behind the bench and watching, I pictured myself in Jeremy's (Hazell) shoes. It felt good when that finally came true.

"The numbers won't really show how I affected the game. I think when you were there in person and you really saw how I affected the game defensively, it was like, 'Wow.' I'd rather there be a video clip under my name than just having my numbers on a wall. I think you'd see more in a video clip — just how I would get my hands on the ball and how I would mess a team's head up."

"The lowest point of my time here?

I'd say right now. My freshman year, we had a couple of big upset games. My freshman and sophomore year, we protected home court. We didn't lose much in my first two years here. But in my third and fourth years, we started losing way more.

"Yeah, I think my career has been a disappointment. I'd say that. It's tough knowing that. I know fans probably don't think that I can make it, just because of how much we lost.

"That's the ultimate goal — to finish strong. Just pull a rabbit out of the hat, basically. That's the goal. But even if it doesn't go that way, I'm still going to give it 100 percent. Just try to leave here on a good note. My sophomore year was the highest point. We took six losses in a row and still came back in the face of adversity.

"The most fun that I had here was my freshman year, because I had no role. My sophomore year I had no role, but a little bit more responsibility.

"Brian (Oliver) tells me every day. Brian went at Georgia Tech to the NCAA Tournament. Just the exposure. He said you feel like a NBA player because of all the attention that you get. It is tough to hear that. I felt it a little bit with the NIT. You don't feel it too much, but you feel a little bit of it. It is a good feeling. And that's what every basketball player wants.

"I don't think that defines me as a player. With my career not being what it could have been, I don't think not making (the NCAA Tournament) defines me. I don't think it's going to change my attitude when I go for (NBA) workouts. I see myself just as good as guys from Duke, from Kansas, places like that.

Editor's Note: This story was pieced together after a wide-ranging interview with Edwin and was presented using only his words. His thumb injury may not allow him to play on Senior Night, while teammates and coaches quietly questioned his decision to sit out the team's last game, further muddling an already cloudy career. For Edwin, he hopes to have a career after Seton Hall in basketball. He is optimistic about making a NBA roster this summer but is prepared to go overseas to play if he doesn't make it.