Michelle Edwards, a former college national player of the year, international all-star and WNBA franchise player, begins her seventh season on the Rutgers staff.
A native of Boston, Mass., Edwards played for current Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer at the University of Iowa from 1984-88. She led the Hawkeyes to back-to-back NCAA Tournament regional final appearances in 1987 and 1988 and posted career totals of 1,821 points (third all-time still today), 482 rebounds, 431 assists (second) and 235 steals (third).
As a senior, Edwards was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, a Kodak, Naismith and USBWA All-American and the Champion National Player of the Year. A 2000 Iowa Hall of Fame inductee, she is the only female Hawkeye to have her jersey retired.
Edwards was selected as one of Iowa’s “Top 50 Athletes of the Century” as well as the Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Decade in 1989.
Edwards, who won a bronze medal at the 1991 Pan-American Games under Stringer’s tutelage, played professionally in Italy from 1988-97. She earned three Italian League All-Star Game MVP awards during her stay. Edwards returned to the States when the WNBA was formed and was the second allocation from the original group of 16 “franchise” players.
Edwards played a total of five seasons (1997-2001) for the Cleveland Rockers and Seattle Storm, averaging 7.6 points and 2.8 assists per game. While a member of the WNBA, she was very active in the community. She worked with several Cleveland charities as well as the NBA’s “Read to Achieve” program.
Following the end of her professional playing career, Edwards served as a youth basketball advisor/community relations representative for the YMCA in New York City. She also added to her resume, a career in broadcasting. She served as the Fox Sports Net color analyst for Cleveland Rockers games during the 2003 season and as the color analyst for the Rutgers Radio Network during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
Edwards graduated from Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts in 1989.
