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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 35 junior forward off the bench, as part of a 20-point, 10-re- bound showing, one of the signature performances in his Purdue career. That win was Purdue's biggest of the season to that point and a particularly cathartic one in the context of the Boilermakers' years-long struggles at the Crossroads, where they'd never won prior. But it was also a clear indicator that whatever it was Ed- wards might have lost, it was found. Painter typically doesn't mess with his starting lineups after wins, so as soon as his team dropped an overtime de- cision to Minnesota in Game 2 of Big Ten play, Edwards was back where he felt he belonged, on the floor for the opening tip. He did experience some ups and downs the rest of the season like just about any player would, but the for- mer were higher than the latter were low. Does Purdue win that harrowing one-point outcome at Ohio State without the 16 points, seven rebounds — four of them off the offensive boards — and four assists he chipped in? Does Purdue beat ranked Northwestern in Mackey Arena if the Boilermakers' resident Swiss Army Knife doesn't make five of the seven three-pointers he at- tempted? Does Purdue escape Bloomington with that narrow win over Indiana without Edwards' 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting? And does Purdue win the Big Ten if any of those games turn out differently? At Northwestern to conclude the regular sea- son — Purdue had already clinched the title — Edwards went for 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, carrying Purdue to a big-time road win in a game it didn't actually need, not to mention in one of the biggest games in the histo- ry of that particular road venue. The best was yet to come, though. In the NCAA Tournament, if you didn't happen to know that Swanigan was a top-five player in college bas- ketball, you might not have been able to immediately ID him as Purdue's best player. That was the level Edwards played at in Rounds 1 and 2 in Milwaukee, shooting 10-of-16 for 21 points vs. Ver- mont, then 9-of-14 for another 21, to go along with 10 rebounds, in an in- stant classic over Iowa State. That's the form Purdue now needs today, as Edwards is well aware. Swanigan is gone, off to the NBA, and for all the accommodations made by Purdue for the elite player that he was, Edwards was a big part of making the whole thing fit, may- be to his detriment. Always known as a player for the unselfishness that's driven his ro- bust assist numbers at Purdue, the opportunities to defer have been many lately, playing alongside one of the most influential and involved players in college basketball. And while it might have been a valuable move for his long-term bas- ketball outlook, Edwards moved to Some Of Everything Purdue's not had many players in its history as diversely productive as Vincent Edwards. That well-rounded output — from scoring to shooting to rebounding to passing — makes him one of the more uncommon, and probably overlooked, players in college basketball. Consider this: The 1,000-point, 500-rebound, 300-assist club at Purdue is a two-man list, Edwards and E'Twaun Moore. And Edwards figures to leave Purdue with his name written all over the school's record books, tops in no category, but with a presence all over the place. Here's a look at where he stands today, with one last, and probably his best, season to come: Category Total/Percentage Purdue Rank Scoring 1,127 36 currently Rebounds 520 Possible top 20 Offensive rebounds 194 N/A* Assists 302 19 currently Assist/TO ratio 1.81 12 currently 3-pointers 122 Likely top 10 3-point percentage 39.0 13 currently Free throw percentage 81.3 11 currently * Edwards likely will finish third among players in the Matt Painter Era, behind A.J. Hammons (314) and JaJuan Johnson (280)