SE: Justin Edwards Thriving in First Professional Season in Hungary

In less than a year, basketball has taken Justin Edwards to several countries for the first time. The former K-State guard has dunked and defended in Austria, Germany, Croatia, Portugal, Romania, Czech Republic and France, along with his new home in Hungary, where he plays the majority of his professional basketball.

"It's very enjoyable. I didn't really realize how lucky I am to get to travel to all those places. I'll have people back home say, 'You're so lucky. You get to do all this stuff,'" Edwards said. "To get to travel the world and play the sport I love, it's a major blessing."

Edwards has thrived in his first season of professional basketball, playing in the Hungarian League for Alba Fehervar. In February, the club captured its first Hungarian Cup title in about five years.

"It was very exciting," Edwards said. "One of our captains, he's 30 years old, he just said he wanted to win a Hungarian Cup. So winning that was fun and it was a good experience for my teammates and me."

On a bigger stage, Edwards helped his team to an 8-4 record in the FIBA Europe Cup, which consists of the best teams from across the continent. In 12 games, he provided a team-high 16.9 points on 48.7 percent shooting, also contributing 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.9 steals as Alba Fehervar advanced to the second round of group play.

"It's a really good league and I had some really good games in that," Edwards said. "I look back at that and I'm just proud of how I played in those games and how I helped the team get farther than they'd ever been before."

Edwards' play, which includes scoring 14.0 points per game in the Hungarian League, earned him a spot in its All-Star game. While there, the 6-foot-4 Canadian showed off his high-flying capabilities in the dunk contest, a setting he's almost always tried to avoid. Urged by a teammate to compete, Edwards did not disappoint and won the competition.

"That was exciting. I don't normally do dunk competitions. I don't like doing them. I feel like you put a lot of pressure on yourself, but I made the All-Star game my first year and my captain was, like, 'They're obviously going to want you to do the dunk competition, so you might as well do it and try to win,'" Edwards, who had never won a dunk competition before, said. "I went into it not really expecting to win, but I ended up winning, so it was cool."

Coming from the Big 12 playing style and used to the rules of college basketball, Edwards faced a few hurdles in getting adjusted to competing in Europe. Aside from traveling calls being issued on a stricter basis, "the hardest adjustment," he said he has enjoyed a newfound offensive freedom.

"It's a lot more open than college. I feel like college was a really hard, defensive game and teams played a lot of defense in college. Out here, there's more scoring that happens and the floor's just open a lot more than it was in college," he said. "I like to score, so being able to play one-on-one a lot and there not being help defense all the time is a big thing for me."

The style of play is distinctly different for Edwards, but so is the culture around him and the teammates he plays with.

"On my team, there's Americans, there's two Serbians and a lot of Hungarians, so it's different," he said. "You get to know something about them and where they come from, how it's different than what it's like in America, or Canada for me. It's a learning experience."

Edwards said he enjoys the Hungarian cuisine but definitely longs for the abundance of fast food in the United States. As for K-State, he misses the people.

"The fans and the coaches, the players, my good friends and family," he said. "I just miss them the most."

Basketball has certainly taken Edwards to more places and experiences than he ever imagined.

After two seasons at Maine, he transferred to K-State, where he more than doubled his point production from his junior to senior season. As a senior, he led K-State in points (12.7), rebounds (5.9) and steals per game (1.8).

When his time at K-State came to a close, he left with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and a valuable lesson for life, which he intends to carry with him wherever he goes.

"Always work hard. I feel like if you have talent and you work hard, you can just keep improving," said Edwards, whose team will compete in the Hungarian League playoffs in late April. "I was just talking to Coach (Chris) Lowery the other day and he said, 'You were always a good player. We just made you work harder.' I feel like that's something I took from K-State, to just keep working hard and pushing myself to the limit."

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SE: Justin Edwards Thriving in First Professional Season in Hungary

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