Tennessee Basketball could see a familiar face in Philadelphia during its first-round March Madness matchup next week.
Unlike most of the bracket’s field, Tennessee doesn’t know exactly which team it’ll be facing during its first-round matchup next Friday. The Vols will be taking on the winner of the First Four play-in game between Miami (OH) and SMU as the 11-seed in the Midwest Region.
Miami (OH) would present an interesting storyline with the Redhawks’ near-perfect record this season, but an SMU matchup would give Tennessee a game against one of its former players. The Mustangs’ third-leading scorer this season is former Knoxville product B.J. Edwards, who spent one season with Tennessee during the 2022-2023 season.
Edwards, a graduate of Knoxville Catholic, played in 14 games during his lone season with the Volunteers. He scored 17 total points on 6-of-12 shooting, including a 2-of-5 mark from the three-point line. Edwards also added eight total rebounds, six assists, one block, and one steal during that stretch.
He then transferred to the Lone Star State to play for SMU, where he has been for the last three seasons. After averaging 1.2 points per game during his season with Tennessee, Edwards averaged 3.7 PPG during his first season with SMU, 9.9 PPG during his second season with the Mustangs, and is currently averaging 12.7 PPG this season.
He’s started all 28 games that he’s played in for SMU this season, averaging 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. All three of those statistics are career highs for the 6-foot-3 guard.
“Not a lot,” Tennessee’s Rick Barnes said on Sunday night when asked if he’s been able to keep up with Edwards’ career very much since his departure. “But we certainly didn’t want BJ to leave when he left. But he felt with Zakai (Zeigler) and those guys. BJ is one of the special kids that we’ve had. I mean, he’s a great person, mother’s a great lady and I know just we’re all happy for him. The fact that when he did leave, he went because of Rob Lanier. And Rob just always spoke volumes about him, his improvement. And I know they missed him coming down the stretch (while he was out with an ankle injury).”
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As Barnes mentioned, Edwards has been out while dealing with an ankle injury. He has not seen the court since the Ponies’ loss to Cal on Feb. 25. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Mar. 13 that Edwards will be available for the NCAA Tournament.
There are no current Volunteers who were on the same Tennessee team as Edwards during his lone year in Knoxville. Former Tennessee forward Colin Coyne, though, was a teammate of Edwards during the 2022-2023 campaign. Coyne currently serves as a graduate assistant with the Volunteers.
Miami (OH) will square off against Edwards’ SMU Mustangs in a First Four game at 9:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. The winner will move into the official bracket field as the 11-seed in the Midwest Region. Six-seed Tennessee will then take on the winner at 4:25 p.m. ET on Friday, Mar. 20, in Philadelphia, PA.
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