The St. John’s Edge made a couple of selections in Sunday’s National Basketball League of Canada draft, but the team’s short history has already taught us to wait on whether either Chris Early or Aaron Edison will play for the team.
Early, a 6-7 forward who played briefly in the NLBC with the Saint John Riptide a couple of years ago, was taken with the ninth overall pick Sunday in Windsor, Ont. Edison, a 6-2 guard from southern California who played at Santa Monica College, was the Edge’s second-round choice. The selections followed the NBL Canada draft combine which attracted over 100 players showcasing their talents before coaches and officials of the league’s 10 teams.
The majority of players taken in the most recent NBLC drafts haven’t made much of an impact on the league. For example, as an expansion team, the Edge had the first overall pick in the 2017 draft, but the player they took with that selection — Chicago-Loyola product Aaron Williams — never played for St. John’s. The Edge’s second pick last year was forward-centre Zach Gordon, who did get into a few games with St. John’s early in the season while Grandy Glaze was away on national team duty. But after Glaze returned, Gordon was released.
There was some confusion surrounded Early’s selection, which was originally listed on the league’s Twitter account as being made by the KW Titans. The Titans indeed had held the rights to the pick as the result of a trade that saw KW send Russell Byrd to St. John’s midway through last season, but it tuned out there were conditions attached, meaning the Titans could pass on taking the pick this year, which they did.
The 29-year-old Early played at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, starting 29 of 31 games as a junior in 2011-12, but the 225-pound forward and West Virginia native was dismissed from the team midway through his senior season for disparaging Twitter remarks he made about UTC head coach John Shulman. However, it should be noted that Shulman ensured Early retained his athletic scholarship in order to finish his degree.
Since then, Early has played in a number of professional league, including Peru’s top circuit and also appeared briefly in the NBL Canada, suiting up in five games with the Riptide in 2016-17.
By the way, that Byrd deal came at the same time St. John’s acquired the Island Storm’s first-round pick in a transaction that sent forward Jarion Henry the other way. However, that draft choice, which turned out to be fifth overall Sunday, was dealt away earlier this month in a trade that saw the Edge acquire the rights to former NBL Canada MVP Gabe Freeman from the Saint John Riptide.
Freeman still hasn’t signed with St. John’s, but the latest word is that contract talks between him and the team are continuing.
