Next Generation Spotlight: Yazmin Edwards

Introducing the first in our “Next Generation Spotlight” series, where we get to know some of the exciting young players in British Basketball. First up: Yazmin Edwards.

Yazmin Edwards. Photo Credit: Luke Simcock

Name: Yazmin Edwards

Current Team: Ipswich

Leagues: WNBL D1, WEABL, U18

2022-23 Season Accolades: U18 National Cup Winner, U18 National Cup MVP, U18 Junior Final Fours Winner.

Career Stats: Click here

The below is an excerpt from our longer interview with Yazmin which is available to watch in full on our YouTube Channel here.

Yazmin has played for Ipswich Basketball club from the U12 level and took home MVP honours in the U18s National Cup Final earlier this year after dropping 27 points and 7 rebounds on 55% shooting in the teams’ win over COLA. She talks to us about her 2022-23 season with Ipswich and her Basketball journey so far.

FocusHoops: You had a very successful season with the U18s this year, beating COLA in the National Cup where you took home the MVP. Can you talk about the experience of that game?

Yazmin Edwards: “I didn’t go into the game expecting that at all, the games leading up to it I wasn’t being that consistent, I mainly just wanted to play well…it was a great feeling looking up at the scoreboard and seeing how well I was doing, it was a weird feeling, I hadn’t felt that before but it was a really nice feeling to have. I think overall just being with the team, winning a game against COLA who are a really good team, it just felt so good to beat them.”

Yazmin on court vs COLA. Photo Credit: Luke Simcock

FH: In the U18 Final against COLA you had 20 points, 15 rebounds (7 offensive), you’re a guard! How do you get yourself into position to get those?

YE: “My coach (Nick Drane Ipswich HC) always says to me “crash the boards, crash the boards, crash the boards” every time. So I have that in my head, as soon as the ball goes up try and get the rebound…and I can jump fairly high, I used to do Athletics where I did high jump so I’ve had training, technique and stuff like that so that all obviously helps as well.”

FH: One of the things I enjoy watching the most is how hard you work off the ball, defensively, you never stop moving on the court and hustle after every ball. Have you always played like that or is that something you have developed?

YE:” I think I’ve always played like that. From a young age, I’ve always been a fast player but not always had the technical side like shooting and stuff, so I’ve always tried to be better at all the other things like hustling for the ball, rebounds..its something I’ve always been like when playing on court.”

FH: The dynamic between you and (guard) Liv Forster has worked so well, do you enjoy playing with her and how is it playing with a post player like Louisa Gibbins?

YE: “I love playing with Liv, I drive a lot and go to the basket and its not always there, I can’t always go up and try to score but I always know that she’s just somewhere ready to shoot a three and I always manage to find her. It’s the same when she’s got the ball at the other end of the court, she’s got great passes just connects and I can score. It’s really nice to play with her. I love playing with her.

Playing with Louisa is also really good. When she’s not got the ball in her hands she’s still doing a lot which helps us on the outside so she’ll be setting screens, pick and rolls, she’s very, very effective on the court no matter what she’s doing. Rebounds as well…in the semi finals game she had quite a lot! (19 total, 12 offensive!)…and that helps the team a lot.”

FH: What was the experience of playing in the WBBL Trophy against the Sheffield Hatters like?

YE: “I do think we all really enjoyed it, it was a great experience to play against players who already have so much experience and you learn from those players when you play against them. Going against players like that is challenging but you really do develop in watching them and just seeing how they play. They are a very, very good team I was sitting on the bench just watching it and it was just really nice to see how well they all knew each other. They knew each others strengths and weaknesses, it was really cool.”

Discussing tactics with Coach Drane. Photo Credit: Luke Simcock

FH: You mentioned taking part in Athletics when you were younger, was there a point when you had to pick between Athletics and Basketball?

YE: “I did athletics before Basketball, I’ve always been a very fast runner so straight away my parents wanted me in sports and put me into Athletics which is where I did long jump and high jump and that translates into Basketball, being able to run fast helps with driving, rebounding stuff like that. I’ve had so much technical training on how to jump properly, how to run properly so you can see it reflected in my Basketball. There was a time when I had to pick between Basketball and Athletics… and in the end I did pick Basketball, I felt it was more of a family thing where Athletics is more of an individual sport. I enjoyed playing Basketball having a team to play with and meeting new people all the time, so I chose Basketball.”

FH: What are you most proud personally of having achieved this season?

YE: “Definitely just going on court, which sounds weird but I hardly played any games last season cos of my nerves and the anxiety I had before going on court. I used to get very worked up before games, I used to throw up before games because of how nervous I got, so Nick would look down the bench and I’m just not there….through summer, I looked back on that and it’s just not how I wanted my next season to go. I worked so hard to not be like that for the next season. I knew I could do it…but I just needed to believe in myself. I’m definitely proud of how far I’ve come since last season and it is a very big jump.”

FH: This season it seems like you thrived on the big stage, the National Cup Finals, the Junior Final Fours. You look so comfortable in those big situations.

YE: “Its quite interesting really because at the beginning of the season Nick gets us to do targets we want to achieve for the end of the season. And we went through it at the end of this season and my target was to control my nerves especially in big games. He said to me, the biggest games we’ve had have been my best games which is quite weird but also quite good!”

FH: Do you have a particular role model in Basketball?

Yazmin Edwards, U18 National Cup Final. Photo Credit: Luke Simcock

YE: “Susannah (Rafiu)…she plays for Columbia (University, New York, NCAA D1)…I’ve known her for a very long time and I’ve seen her develop, and seeing that has also made me very motivated and I want to be like her. I think she’s just such a great player and she’s always been there for me, she’s always been the one to give me advice on and off court so definitely my biggest role model.”

FH: How would you describe your game?

YE: “I would just say I’m fast. I think I play quite fast, I play fairly good defence as well, quite aggressive on the ball. The best way I could describe myself is literally just fast.”

FH: Next season you’ll be playing WEABL and WNBL D1, are you looking forward to it?

YE: “I’m definitely looking forward to next season, I really want to see how far we can go with WEABL because we haven’t been to the finals yet for the past two seasons, we’ve got so close every time, it’s just that one game before we don’t seem to do as well. So I think this season I think we can achieve quite a lot. With Women’s (WNBL D1) I’m quite excited to see where that goes, we’ve got Harriet (Welham who has been playing in France for the past 2 seasons) back as well which will be really nice. I can’t wait to watch her play, I haven’t seen her play in ages in person so I think it’ll be really nice.”