Atlanta Hawks: 6 Under-the-Radar Players in 2019 NCAA Tournament

Carsen Edwards, G, Purdue

Carsen Edwards is looking to produce an encore performance of his great tournament play last year. Hopefully getting a bit more help from his team this time around.

Last March, Edwards did his best to carry the Boilermakers, ending with a 2-1 record averaging just under 20 points a game, scoring 30 of his team’s 65 in their eventual loss. Despite only making it to the second weekend, Edwards was awarded with an All-Region Team selection.

As a Junior, the point guard continued to polish his scoring, especially from long range. He took 10 threes per game, and only three players in D-1 took more than him total. He shot 33% on those, down from 40% from last season.

This is at least partially explained by his ridiculously usage percentage of 37.0, just under Markus Howard for most among Tournament teams. He truly is the heart of this Purdue team that went 23-9 en route to a 3 seed.

Edwards is undersized (6-0, 200) but as Atlanta fans have seen first hand with Trae Young this season, that doesn’t always mean everything. His play making will be the biggest question mark for Edwards heading into the bigs, as he’s only averaged 3 assists to go along with his 20 shots per game.

He 100% won’t be called upon to score at the same rate early on in his NBA career, as he’ll likely be a early second-rounder, so it’ll be interesting to see if and how he develops into a more traditional 1-guard.