Hofstra has a full-court Preston behind its magic run.
Long Island native and freshman Preston Edmead has been a godsend for the Pride and a major reason Hofstra is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years.
“When I came on campus, I just wanted to do anything to get on the court,” the 19-year-old Coastal Athletic Association rookie of the year told The Post.
Edmead will lead the No. 13 seed Friday in Tampa against No. 4 Alabama in a Midwest Region first-round game.
What’s now a historic season may have been just another heartbreak if the young guard from Deer Park hadn’t stepped up when Hofstra needed him most. In the dying seconds of a thrilling overtime conference semifinal against Towson, Edmead sank the winning 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to go, securing the pulsating 68-65 win and eventually tournament MVP honors.
“I didn’t want to go to another overtime,” joked Edmead, one of 11 freshmen in the nation averaging at least 15 points and four assists per game.
“I was hoping I could make a play — and that’s what I did.”
The hometown hero’s first reaction was to point at the crowd and recognize his family, whose Long Island basketball lore is fascinating. It started with Edmead’s dad, John, who played at Sachem and St. John the Baptist before taking his talents to Dowling College in the 1990s.
John’s two older sons grew up loving the game and went on to their own Division I careers: 30-year-old Aaren at Wagner and North Carolina A&T, and 23-year-old Malik, who is a redshirt senior for Merrimack.
“My brothers paved the way for me in this basketball world,” said Preston, who was playing with Malik on Deer Park varsity as a middle schooler, earning the nickname “Recess” for his incredibly young age.
“He didn’t like it, but I think it’s so iconic,” his mom, Krissy, said. “I still can’t believe how he’s grown … I’m just very impressed.”
Family is everything to Preston — who Aaren quickly called a “mama’s boy” — as he, like his siblings, has a tattoo behind his ear to show their birth order.
Preston’s reads “4/5,” as Edmead also has an older sister, Nailah, and a younger brother, Blake.
He and his two older brothers — all of whom are under 6 feet tall — learned the game from legendary local trainer Jerry Powell of Lindenhurst, who is a close friend of their father and sees a potential NBA future for one of Hofstra’s finest.
“I knew Preston was a Division I player at 11 years old,” said Powell, who has worked with the likes of LeBron James and Paul George. “He knows how to control his quickness, and when you’re able to control your quickness, you’re unguardable. … He has a lot of fight in him.”
Preston quickly started showing his older siblings up — his mom endearingly said he would act like “a little s–t” when he did right what they did wrong — which only encouraged Malik and Aaren to reciprocate some brotherly love.
“We bullied him — making him feel like a really little brother,” Aaren said of when they would play driveway ball, or, as he put it, “wars.”
“We just used to abuse him,” he laughed, adding that Preston being a devout vegan added fuel to the fire.
It wasn’t for petty vengeance, but to have their blood ready for his big moment — like against Towson.
Preston, who spends so much time in Hofstra’s gym that the program needs blackout days for him, said he “imagined shots like that in the driveway” as a teen.
Aaren was confident it would all pay off. He started recording the end of overtime on his phone, knowing Preston was ripe for the moment in the semifinals.
“I just had that feeling,” Aaren said.
He’s now the first in the family to experience March Madness.
“Preston’s not just going dancing; we’re going dancing,” his older brother added. “It’s like we all won.”
Now one of the feel-good stories in college basketball, Edmead is staying parked on Hempstead Turnpike and will return to Hofstra for next season, his dad confirmed to The Post.
“Words can’t really describe it — how grateful I am to be here,” Preston said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
