Camden's Joyce Edwards named Gatorade National Player of the Year for girls basketball

           Camden – About the only thing left for Camden High School’s Joyce Edwards to accomplish is to win Most Valuable Player awards in the three national all-star games she'll be participating in in April.

         Edwards, the University of South Carolina signee who led the Bulldogs to consecutive AAA state titles, has been selected as the Gatorade National Player of the Year.

         The 6-foot-3-inch Edwards was named the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year for the second straight season earlier this month. She found out about her newest accolade on Wednesday before it was officially announced on Thursday.

         Edwards, who has been on the Camden varsity since seventh grade, averaged a season double-double of 31.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. Her floor game was just as impressive as her scoring and her work on the boards. Edwards averaged 4.5 steals, 4.0 assists and 3.3 blocked shots.

       Edwards, who is ranked second in the ESPN HoopGurlz 2024 class, was vying for the Gatorade national honor along with Ohio State signee Jalonee Cambridge from Montverde Academy in Florida and Southern California signee Kennedy Smith from Etiwanda High School in California.

       Cambridge is the No. 3-rated prospect. She played her first three seasons at Ensworth in Nashville, Tennessee, before playing her senior season at Montverde. She averaged 20.4 points and 8.5 assists.

        Smith is the No. 6-ranked player and the No. 1 wing prospect. She scored 20.2 points with 7.5 rebounds per game and led the Eagles to a state title.

          Edwards, who has been selected to play in the McDonald’s All-America Game next week, was also named the MaxPreps Player of the Year for South Carolina and the AAA Player of the Year by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association. She was also selected to participate in the Jordan Brand Classic.and the Nike Hoops Summit.

        Edwards finished her high school career with 3.964 points. In her final high school game, Edwards scored 27 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and had six blocks in Camden’s 44-22 state championship win over Wren.

           Edwards is the first girls basketball player and fourth athlete from South Carolina to win a national Gatorade award. the oOthers were Northwestern quarterback Justin Worley for football in 2010, Daniel softball player Carley Hoover in 2013 and Dorman volleyball player Thayer Hall in 2018.