As Jesse Edwards returns from injury, West Virginia is trying to find the best ways to use him and still get him fully healthy.
Jesse Edwards made his long awaited return to the court on Saturday, marking his first game action for the Mountaineers since Dec. 16. Now, as he continues to get back into the groove, him and interim head coach Josh Eilert are trying to pinpoint the best time and place to use Edwards as he gets back to full strength.
In West Virginia’s loss to UMass in December, the bigger loss of the day was Edwards. Edwards hit the deck and with that the force of the fall ended up on his wrist.
“I fell, I knew the moment I landed, I felt the same pain I felt in the other one two years ago,” Edwards said.
For Edwards, it ended up being a fractured right wrist, the same injury he had two years ago with Syracuse. This time though it was his dominant hand, compared to the left wrist injury he sustained in 2022.
Because that injury ended his season prematurely, he had similar thoughts go through his head this time around.
“That was definitely one of my first thoughts,” Edwards said of the possibility of his season being over. “This time it’s a little earlier in the season and the recovery’s been going great.”
That recovery finally got Edwards back on the floor this past weekend against Oklahoma State. Edwards played about 16 minutes in the contest, scoring four points and grabbing four rebounds.
“I think anybody that watches that game on Saturday probably saw Jesse was favoring that wrist in many ways,” Eilert said.
Edwards’ wrist was wrapped tightly, something that Eilert said will continue as he tries to get back to 100 percent.
“I think the way its supposed to work out is earlier with his rehab, the wrap would be a lot tighter early and as we progress, we’ll probably each and every day we’ll probably loosen that up as we go,” Eilert said.
Edwards had dressed for the two games prior to the Oklahoma State game for the Mountaineers. The first of which was against Kansas, the second against UCF. Edwards returned to practice the day before the Kansas game, but said him dressing was only a decoy as to try and plant that in the back of the minds of the Jayhawks.
Even without Edwards though, the Mountaineers pulled the upset over then-No. 3 Kansas, prompting a court storm. Edwards said even though he didn’t play in the game, it was still one of his all-time favorites.
“One of the best games of my life even though I wasn’t on the court at all. It was great, the team, it was really some great basketball to watch,” Edwards said. “I’ve never had a court storm before, so to have that was great.”
As Edwards gets back into the picture, it now gives Eilert something he hasn’t had all season — a full roster.
Eilert said Edwards being back in the post, it adds another element teams have to respect. His hope is that can free his guards and allow everyone to be more open in the offense and give this team more opportunities.
“We can establish our presence inside and they get to a point where they’re more concerned about our big man getting a touch and it opens everything else on the floor,” Eilert said.
Eilert would not directly say if Edwards would be back in the starting lineup as soon as Wednesday against Cincinnati for WVU, however, his goal is to get Edwards back into game shape as quick as possible and get him back to where he was pre injury.
“Game conditioning you could tell wasn’t there. He’s certainly done all that conditioning and stayed on top of all that, but we all know game conditioning is different than treadmill conditioning,” Eilert said.
“It’ll be a gradual process I think, it ain’t going to happen overnight. To get him to be where he’s playing the minutes he was playing prior to, it’s not going to happen overnight. Hopefully the next two-three games he’s back to where he’s 100 percent conditioning and he’s feeling 100 percent with his wrist.”
For Edwards, his goal is to help the team in whatever way he can. He’s not overly concerned about scoring the basketball or doing anything crazy because he knows as he completes the roster, they all can bring something different to the table.
“I feel it in a way I can do other stuff because I like to score, I like to block, but I really love to make opportunities for my teammates too. I think from that point it takes the pressure off of all of us that we can try to help the team in different ways,” Edwards said. “Just knowing we have all these pieces that might have been on the bench otherwise that now know what they’re capable, it might just be really helpful.”
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
