Leroy Harry Edwards (April 11, 1914 – August 25, 1971), nicknamed "Cowboy" and "Lefty",[1] was one of the greatest basketball players of his era.

He was an NCAA All-American at the University of Kentucky and also one of the most lauded professional players in the United States' National Basketball League's history.

[1] Edwards was a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) center who starred at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.

[1] Back then, he was known as the "East Side Terror",[2] and it was between his sophomore and junior years that he learned how to do a hook shot after watching a barn-storming basketball team perform the feat.

[3] One loss was to a very good Michigan State squad (32–26) and the other to New York University (NYU) at the old Madison Square Garden.

[3] NYU and Kentucky were considered the best two college teams in the country at that time and playing for the national championship.

The rule limits the time players can remain in the area in front of the basket known as the "paint" or free-throw lane.

In a different game that season, Edwards set another college basketball record, scoring 34 points against Creighton University.

[3] After coach Adolph Rupp's retirement in 1972 he was asked who was the best center he had ever seen play the game and his answer was Leroy Edwards.

Edwards, selected to the First Team All-Southeastern Conference, was also named the Helms Athletic Foundation National College Player of the Year.

[4] In 1936 he signed his first pro contract with the Oshkosh All-Stars, a team in Wisconsin that played in the National Basketball League (NBL).

He was the first professional basketball player to score 35 points in a game when he did so against the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons on March 5, 1942.

[5] Oshkosh won the league championship six times and participated in nine of ten World Professional Basketball Tournament events held in Chicago between 1939 and 1948.

Oshkosh was favored because with Edwards at center, the All-Stars had beaten the Rens 7 out of 10 games they had played during the previous two years.

Edwards was the leading scorer of the tournament, scoring 49 points in three games, including a 12-point performance in the final.

Hall of Famer Ray Meyer, Mikan's coach at DePaul University, wrote that Edwards was not merely a good basketball player, but a great one.

[4] Edwards died of a heart attack on August 25, 1971, at roughly 7:30 p.m., at the age of 57 at his home in Lawrence, Indiana while mowing his yard.