Carsen Edwards to Return to Purdue for 2018-19 Season

Purdue announced Tuesday evening that guard Carsen Edwards has withdrawn from the 2018 NBA Draft and will return to West Lafayette for his junior season in 2018-19. The news was good for a Purdue team that will already have to replace an impressive senior class next season.

Edwards had a breakthrough sophomore season averaging 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for a Purdue team that made the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. Edwards ended up winning the Jerry West Award while earning First-team All-Big Ten and Second-Team All-American (NABC) honors.

Edwards participated in the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago and had worked out with a number of NBA teams before deciding to return to Purdue for next season. Guard Nojel Eastern is expected to announce his decision tomorrow, though it’s expected the freshman will return for his sophomore season.

After having an impressive 2017-18 season, Edwards will likely get plenty of opportunities to work on his ball handling skills next season as the Boilermakers will need to replace senior point guard P.J. Thompson. Edwards has proven to be a capable scorer, but he’s undersized and will likely need to run the point better if he wants to make it to the NBA in the future.

Also in the mix next year in the backcourt for Purdue will be four-star commit Eric Hunter and three-star redshirt freshman Sasha Stefanovic.

Carsen Edwards will have plenty of chances to improve his draft stock next season as he’ll have to build off of last year’s success for a Purdue program that needs to replace a senior class that includes Isaac Haas, Vincent Edwards, Dakota Mathias and P.J. Thompson.

When everything is said and done the return of Edwards was a positive way to end the month of May for the Boilermakers.