Vanderbilt lands North Texas transfer Jason Edwards

That's a big one...

Vanderbilt has landed North Texas guard Jason Edwards, who averaged 19.1 points in his first divison one season.

Edwards visited Vanderbilt this weekend alongside Commodores big man Jaylen Carey and is Vanderbilt's fifth transfer commitment under Mark Byington.

To be frank, Edwards is the biggest one.

The North Texas transfer was a First team all-AAC selection in 2023-24 and scored 30 or more points in five games this season.

Edwards also heard from Kansas, Gonzaga, Auburn, Florida, Louisville, Arkansas among many others since his portal entry.

Landing Edwards is an indicator that Vanderbilt can play in a league that it hasn't been able to much on the recruiting trail in recent memory.

Breaking down Edwards' game:

Edwards averaged 19.1 points per game and 21.6 in a tough league's conference play for a reason.

The North Texas transfer is about as complete of a three-level scorer that's out there to find in the portal.

Edwards possesses a tremendous quickness as well as a nice handle that allows him to get to just about any spot he needs to on the floor. The 6-foot guard is a tough shot maker that uses a quick release to convert once he gets to those spots. Perhaps he'll take some bad ones at times, but Vanderbilt can live with that considering his pure scoring ability.

Vanderbilt's newest commit is its best off the bounce scorer since Scotty Pippen Jr.

In his season at North Texas, Edwards shot 42.5% from the field, 35% from 3-point range and 80.7% from the free throw line on 14.8, 7.1 and 5.0 shots per game respectivley.

Edwards will be a high-volume guy but can also do things that nobody else on Vanderbilt's roster can, including making shots from range. The Atlanta, Georgia, native made 13 3s from deeper than 25 feet this season.

The score-first guard can also pass it at a high level when he's not scoring. That was evidenced by a 10% assist rate in 2023-24.

Edwards has a 106.4 defensive rating per 100 possessions, which means he gives up 106.4 points per 100 possessions. That's a bit below average but not awful.

The North Texas transfer also averaged .8 steals per game.

Edwards isn't an Ezra Manjon level defender, but he's also seemingly better on that end than a typical undersized, high-volume scorer is.

How Edwards fits:

Vanderbilt got its go-to guy on Sunday.

Edwards projects to be the highest volume guy on Vanderbilt's roster and a piece that its offense revolves around.

This team needed someone like that badly and got it.

It also needed another ballhandler that can operate well out of the ballscreen, which Edwards does well.

Perhaps one of the better indicators of success in Byington's system is Edwards' ability to get out in transition. The North Texas transfer is a 69th percentile transition player, which puts him above 69% of eligible college players.

All in all, it feels as if Vanderbilt had a tremendous Sunday that will pay dividends long term.