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10 Ray Edelman

Ray Edelman
Name
Ray Edelman
Position
Guard
Class
SR
Hometown (Last School)
Ardmore, PA (Haverford)
Ht
6'2"
Wt
175
Seasons
1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74
Birthday
February 14, 1952

Ray Edelman was born Raymond Michael Edelman on February 14, 1952, in Pennsylvania, to Mildred (Millie) and Raymond J. Edelman. He had five siblings: Cindy, Jimmy, Linda, Mike, and Patty. In the 1960s, his father served as an assistant coach at Penn under Jack McCloskey and Dick Harter. He followed Harter to the University of Oregon in the early 1970s, but soon returned to Pennsylvania as head coach at the Haverford School in 1973 then back to Penn in 1979.

A native of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Edelman set 49 records at Haverford High School and earned All-State honors. He was the only player in the school’s history to start three years. Edelman scored 609 points in averaging 23.3 per game as a senior. On January 9, 1970, Edelman became the first Ford to score 40 points in a game when he fired in 41. The Fords won the Eastern Regional championship his senior year, but lost to Beaver Falls in the state championship game. He scored 1,447 points in his high school career, a record that would stand for 34 years.

Edelman was heavily recruited by Princeton, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Davidson and Wake Forest, among others. On March 25, 1970, Edelman, with Adolph Rupp in attendance, signed a national letter-of-intent to play basketball for Kentucky. He was Kentucky’s first signee of the season.

As a freshman at Kentucky (freshmen were not eligible for varsity back then), Edelman was the second-leading frosh scorer with 21.6 points per game. He also averaged 5.4 rebounds per game. In his very first game with the freshman team, he netted 26 points. He had games of 33 points at LSU on January 23, 1971, and 36 on January 25, 1971, at Alabama.

As a sophomore at Kentucky, Edelman saw reserve guard duty in 13 games. He scored 11 points for the season. He had a high game of four points against Princeton in the UKIT finals.

As a junior, Edelman started one game, and saw action in 24 others, hitting 50.8 percent from the field and averaging 2.6 points. A complete student of the game, Edelman exerted a steadying influence on younger members of the team. He committed only 13 turnovers while scoring 63 points. His individual high was eight points against Nebraska and LSU.

As a senior, Edelman played in 19 games scoring 25 total points on the year. He tossed in eight of those points in his farewell appearance, including an around-the-neck layup after two reverse dribbles that brought Hall leaping off the bench with hands up, raised.

Ray Edleman was a three-year letterman for the Wildcats. Edelman was part of the 1972 and 1973 Kentucky teams with successful runs, reaching the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight. Edelman graduated from UK in 1974 with a degree in Business Administration and then graduated in 1977 from the UK College of Law.

During his playing career, he was credited by Coach Hall as like “having a coach on the floor.” He was the recipient of the K-Men’s Scholastic Award in 1974. This award was given by K-Men’s Association in Memory of Sam Huey to the Team’s Top Scholar Athlete over a four-year period.

While finishing law school at Kentucky, Edelman was a graduate assistant and coached the junior varsity team.

Edelman went on to practice law in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. He married Barbara Barnstable of Louisville on August 16, 1974 at the Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky. They have three children: Kevin, Laura, and Mitchell.

Interview with Ray Edelman, October 24, 2017

College Statistics:

NCAA

SeasonTeamMINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAORDRPFASTTOBLKSTLPTSGMPGFG%FT%3P%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
Kentucky563900510057450011133.633.3350.0000.40.30.00.00.8
Kentucky19630590038022141730063255.350.8537.5000.90.70.00.02.6
Kentucky6511190033035400025193.157.89100.0000.20.20.00.01.3
Total-3174487001121030262580099574.150.5752.3800.50.40.00.01.8

Career Totals

SeasonMINFGMFGA3PM3PAFTMFTAORDRPFASTTOBLKSTLPTSGMPGFG%FT%3P%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1971-72563900510057450011133.633.3350.0000.40.30.00.00.8
1972-7319630590038022141730063255.350.8537.5000.90.70.00.02.6
1973-746511190033035400025193.157.89100.0000.20.20.00.01.3
Total3174487001121030262580099574.150.5752.3800.50.40.00.01.8

Photo Gallery:

On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 28, 1992, in what many called the “best NCAA Tournament game ever,” Kentucky takes defending NCAA champion Duke into overtime before losing 104-103 in the East Regional finals in Philadelphia. A last-second shot by Christian Laettner sends Duke to the Final Four, and breaks the hearts of Wildcat fans everywhere. It is Cawood Ledford’s last game as the “Voice of the Wildcats.”

 

On March 28, 1998, against Stanford, Kentucky rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit, then grabbed a 5-point overtime lead, before fending off the Cardinals to advance to the title game for the third straight season. Jeff Sheppard canned three long-range three-pointers - two in the final three minutes and one in overtime - en route to a career-high 27 points.

 

On March 28, 2014, unranked Kentucky beat No. 5 Louisville 74-69, in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.  Aaron Harrison buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 39 seconds left that put UK ahead to stay before 41,072 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

On March 28, 2015, No. 1 Kentucky defeated No. 8 Notre Dame, 68-66, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.  With its 37-0 record on the line, Kentucky trailed Notre Dame 59-53 with 6:14 left. UK rallied in front of 19,464 fans in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena and preserved its perfect season thanks to a crucial blocked shot by Willie Cauley-Stein and two game-deciding free throws from Andrew Harrison in the final seconds.

 

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