Position: Forward
Class/Experience: Senior/3L
Height: 6-6
Weight: 230
Hometown: New Orleans, La.
High School: St. Augustine HS

General: Will redshirt this season in order to accomplish his goal of getting his degree and teaching certificate for the UA in four years... As part of his degree requirement, he will student teach during the spring semester... Depending on his student teaching schedule, will still be able to practice with the team... One of just two Arizona seniors on this year's team... Arizona's sixth man most of last year, he came into the lineup to spell the frontline performers... Gave the Cats a defensive and intensity boost off the bench, much like Jason Terry had done for the past couple of seasons... A relentless rebounder who is one of the hardest workers on the team... Arizona fan favorite because of his work ethic.. One of the four members of this year's team who were on the 1997 NCAA championship team... With 93 career games under his belt, he has played in the most games of any of the current Wildcats and in every game but two games during his career... Tied for the third-best rebounding average on the team last season (4.8 rpg).

1998-99 (Junior): Started the first three games of the season before missing the fourth against Wyoming... He was suspended for that game by Arizona coaches because of an elbow he threw in the BYU game... Returned to the starting lineup after that in the home win over UC-Irvine and responded with a then-season-high 10 points and seven rebounds... That game was his last as a starter... Had the same numbers in the Holy Cross victory... Back-to-back double-digit scoring games for the first time in his career this season, going for a season-high 13 at home against Arizona State on his 21st birthday and 12 versus Louisiana State... Also combined for 14 rebounds in those two games as well (6/8)... Played in every game but one (Wyoming)... Scored nine points and grabbed eight boards versus Washington State in Tucson... In that game, played tenacious defense, so much so, WSU coach Kevin Eastman said, I think our guys were intimidated by Eugene Edgerson. Even though they wouldn't say it, you could see it in their faces.... Career-high four steals to go with four rebounds against California in Tucson... Had five rebounds and a solid defensive performance before fouling out at home against UCLA... Grew out his afro so, as he said, it resembles his old-school game... Also wore a pair of old Nikes that were originally ordered for Arizona's Jud Buechler back in the late 80s... Buechler never picked up the shoes and Edgerson came across them in the UA equipment room... Was the subject of a full page photo essay in an ESPN Magazine photo essay in late February on the return of the afro to sports... Eight points and six rebounds at New Mexico... Hit on 70.5% of his free throw attempts... As a freshman, shot only 40% from the line.

1997-98 (Sophomore): Third leading rebounder on the squad at 5.2 rpg, while scoring 4.5 ppg... Played 17.3 mpg... Had five double-digit rebounding outings, highlighted by his career-high 13 boards versus Washington State in Tucson... Played only 21 minutes in that contest... Led Arizona in scoring for the first and only time of his career in the season-opening win over Morgan State... Posted his first double-double in that outing with a career-high 17 points to go with a game-high 12 rebounds... He and Jason Terry were the only players besides Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon to record team-high scoring honors in any of the UA's 35 games... Led the team in rebounding eight times... Followed his 13-rebound performance against WSU with a 12-rebound game at Arizona State... Two games later, went for 10 rebounds at Oregon... Of those 10 rebounds, seven came in 10 minutes of play in the first half... In Pac-10 play, he had a free throw percentage of 73.2% (30-41), a huge improvement over his mark of 31.7% from the line in Pac-10 games when he was a freshman... 12 points at Washington... 10 rebounds against New Mexico... Probably gained the most of any player on Arizona's trip to Australia... Developed his hook shot on that 23-day nine-game excursion.

1996-97 (Freshman):  Came off the bench to average 11.6 minutes of playing time... Played in every game but one (at Arizona State)... Scored 2.7 ppg and grabbed 3.7 rpg... Improved his game as the season wore on and began to see more playing time... Pulled down 16 rebounds at the Final Four, nine versus North Carolina and seven against Kentucky... Filled in nicely for a foul-plagued Bennett Davison in the national semi-final win over the Tar Heels... His then-career-high nine rebounds came on two separate occasions -- both against the Tar Heels (UA opened the season versus UNC)... Five points and four rebounds in the upset of Kansas... Played a part in the Wildcats' defensive show against the taller KU front line... Seven points in the USC win (3-3 FG)... Also scored seven points and had five boards against Tulane... Had a then-career-best 13 points against Jackson State to go with eight boards -- seven of which were on the offensive glass... Sprained his ankle in the Utah game and only played six minutes versus Texas.

High School: Prepped at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, La... Averaged 18 ppg, 14 rpg, 5 apg and 5 bpg as a senior... A four-year letterman for head coach Bernard Griffith... New Orleans Time-Picayune Large School's Player of the Year as a senior... First-team All-State 5A selection... Louisiana Sportswriters Association All-State player... McDonald's All-American nominee... Was a member of the honor roll, sporting a 3.8 GPA... Prior to his senior season, he was named to USA Today's Preseason Super 25 High School team... Helped lead St. Augustine HS -- the same school that produced the New Jersey Nets' Kerry Kittles -- to USA Today's mythical national championship as a junior... Averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds and three blocks per game... MVP of the Las Vegas Adidas Big Time Tournament... His team also captured the tournament title... Captain of his high school team as a senior... Excels either on the wing or as a power forward... Recruiter's Handbook No. 23 prep senior in the country... Also recruited by North Carolina, Syracuse, Connecticut and Villanova... A member of the Who's Who in Sports as a senior.

Personal: Eugene Julian Edgerson... Prefers to go by the first name of Gene... Born 2-10-78... Son of Suzan Edgerson... Has two brothers, Chad and Garrett and a sister, Sage... An elementary education major... Likes photography, reading children's literature, baseball card collecting, traveling and cats... He is a proud member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity... Likes to model his rebounding tenacity after Dennis Rodman... After viewing an Australian Rules Football game in Melbourne, said he wants to play that sport if things don't work out for him in hoops.

Edgerson's Career Statistics

Season   G-GS Min. FG-FGA  Pct. 3Pt. Pct.  FT-FTA  Pct.  OR/DR  Tot./Avg. Ast. St. Blk. TO  PF-DQ Pts.-Avg.
1998-99 28-4  500  44-87   .506 0-1  .000  57-80   .712  70/64  134/4.8    8   23   4   37  78-3   145-5.2
1997-98 35-3  606  51-105  .486 0-0  .000  57-81   .704  83/100  183/5.2  13   17  16   32  65-1   159-4.5
1996-97 33-0  384  29-71   .408 0-0  .000  31-76   .408  62/60  122/3.7    6   16   5   20  52-0    89-2.7
Career  93-7 1490 124-263  .471 0-1  .000 145-237  .612  215/224 439/4.7  27   56  25   89 195-4   393-4.3

Season G-GS Min FG-FGA  Pct.   3FG Pct. FT-FTA Pct.  OR/DR Tot/Avg Ast  St. Blk TO  PF-DQ Pts-Avg.
1998-99 1-0 15   1-2    .500   0-0 .000 2-2    1.000  1/3    4/4.0  0    0  0    2  2-0     4-4.0
1997-98 4-0 55   4-9    .444   0-0 .000 4-4    1.000  7/8   15/3.8  0    0  1    0  2-0    12-3.0 
1996-97 6-0 67   2-6    .333   0-0 .000 7-10    .700  9/10  19/3.2  1    2  0    3  6-0    11-1.8
Totals 11-0 137  7-17   .418   0-0 .000 13-16   .813 17/21  38/3.5  1    2  1    5 11-0    27-2.5