Klay Edwards - Role Player

March Madness is in full swing and this week Tim sits down with a Cyclone who has seen just about every side of college basketball. Klay Edwards grew up in small-town eastern Iowa but found his home in Ames. During his time in the cardinal and gold, he saw the end of Johnny Orr’s career, the Tim Floyd era, and the start of the Eustachy years. His Cyclones won the last Big 8 Conference tourney, played in the NCAA tournament a few times, and saw several changes in the program. 

At 6’9 on a 1A Iowa high school team, Klay Edwards was a star player on a talented basketball team. With Jess Settles just ahead of Edwards in school, Winfield-Mount Union had a run of really talented boys basketball teams in the mid-1990s and took home the 1995 state basketball title. His offensive production in high school made him a great fit for Johnny Orr’s Cyclones, even though he grew up a Hawkeye fan in eastern Iowa. Orr ended up retiring though just before Edwards arrived on campus, so Klay actually started his college career with Tim Floyd. That 1994-1995 Cyclone team was loaded with talent. Edwards was a freshman as Fred Hoiberg, Loren Meyer, Hurl Beechum, and Julius Michalik were finishing up their careers. That group was a top 25 team and made it to the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament.

From the 1995-96 season through his senior year in 1998-1999, Edwards was a key contributor averaging over 20 minutes and 5 rebounds per game. The 1995-1996 team, with Dedric Willoughby and Kelvin Cato leading the way,  won the last Big 8 Conference tourney and was a 5-seed in the NCAA tournament. They beat Cal in the first round and fell to Utah in the round of 32. Edwards’s redshirt sophomore year was the most successful year for the team during his run as the Cyclones made the Sweet 16 where they fell to UCLA. 

While Edwards’s Cyclone career started with his recruitment by Orr, it finished with Larry Eustachy’s first year and teammates like Marcus Fizer, Stevie Johnson, and Moonlighter Paul Shirley. Edwards shares his unique perspective on the current Cyclone program and the transition from Coach Steve Prohm to TJ Otzelberger. 

In this interview, Tim and Klay discuss the highs and lows of some really great years in Cyclone basketball as well as the impact of 2 coaching changes in 5 years. Now as a high school basketball coach for his alma mater, Klay Edwards can look back on his playing days and the influence of his former coaches on his approach to walking the sidelines coaching his sons.

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