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64 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED well," Edwards said. "They said they'd like to have one and they needed a point guard to come in and compete and maybe make an impact as a freshman. I felt like that's where I should go." Edwards can score. He averaged better than 24 points per game for Atascocita as a junior and showed in the summers an ability to go off every now and then, even though his Hoops teams was so loaded with weapons, scor- ing was rarely an issue. Most notable is Edwards' jump shot. "I think he's one of the best shooters in the coun- try," Houston Hoops director Hal Pastner said. "He can really score. I think that's his asset. He can score, man. And he's strong, not real tall, but he's strong." At the college level, Edwards won't get shots off as easily as he does now, but won't be asked to take the same kinds of shots, either. But he has shown, when necessary, he can get a shot off whenever he wants, with strength enough to shake off close defenders, savvy enough to sepa- rate from them and a lightning-quick release. "One of my strengths is just being able to create space to get my jump shot off," Edwards said, "but I can also mix it up and get to the basket. I know there's going to be bigger players, but I can get into mid-range and get those shots off too." Purdue sees Edwards, too, as having significant defensive potential, in part because of his physical strength and in part because of the toughness he's known to play with. That toughness might be in part the product of a football upbringing. As is culture in Texas, Edwards grew up with the game, playing wide receiver up until his sophomore year in high school. "He played slot receiver, he'd juke you, then he'd talk trash after he got tackled," said Edwards' older brother, Jai, a redshirt freshman defensive back at Blinn Junior College in Texas. "He was pretty good at football, very good in football. It helped make him more physical and aggressive." That's now how Edwards plays basketball, those who know him say. "He's a tough kid. You can't knock him down without him getting right back up," Martinez said. "… When he got banged up a little bit (at the Peach Jam) in Georgia this summer, my phone was ring- ing off the hook about how tough he was. I chuck- led, because I know him. "I know he's going to play through stuff, because he wants to win. He's not going to make excuses. That toughness, with the way Purdue plays defense and the way Matt Painter coaches, I think it'll be good for Carsen. He has a chance to be a really good "He's a tough kid. You can't knock him down without him getting right back up." — Atascocita coach David Martinez