Aaliyah Edwards

Biography

Aaliyah Edwards made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where she was the youngest member of the Canadian women’s basketball team. 

Edwards was the youngest member of the silver medal-winning cadet national team at the 2017 U16 FIBA Americas Championship, her international debut.  In 2018 she was part of the team at the U17 FIBA World Cup, averaging more than 25 minutes and 9 points per game.

Edwards made her debut with the senior national team as a 16-year-old, playing in an exhibition tournament in Belgium in 2019. That summer she also joined the junior national team for the U19 FIBA World Cup, where she was again the youngest player on the team and helped Canada to a sixth-place finish with 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. She returned to the senior team for the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup and brought home a silver medal. She went on to compete at the 2021 and 2023 AmeriCups, contributing to fourth place and bronze medal finishes, respectively. In 2022, Edwards won gold with the U23 team at GLOBL Jam where she was named tournament MVP. 

Edwards played collegiately at the University of Connecticut. She led the Huskies to four consecutive Big East Conference regular season and tournament titles. As a freshman in 2021 she was awarded the BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year and named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team, helping the Huskies to the number one ranking in the country and a NCAA Final Four appearance. She was a Big East All-Tournament Team selection as a sophomore when UConn would go on to make the NCAA Championship game. As a junior she was a Third Team All-American, named the Big East Most Improved Player and Big East Tournament MVP.

Edwards was selected sixth overall in the first round of the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics. 

A Little More About Aaliyah

Getting into the Sport: Won gold at the U15 National Championships with Team Ontario in 2017 and was named tournament MVP… Before joining UConn as the 23^rd-ranked recruit in the class of 2020, she played at Toronto’s Crestwood Preparatory College in the OSBA where she won a national championship and was named 2019-20 OSBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year… 2019 NBA Basketball Without Borders Global MVP… 2020 BioSteel Athlete of the Year… Outside Interests: Studied Communications at the University of Connecticut… Odds and Ends: Wears purple and yellow braids to pay homage to the LA Lakers and Kobe Bryant…