Before Philadelphia, Buck or Long Island Lutheran (often called LuHi), there was a teenager leaving behind the comfort of his beloved ocean in the Bahamas for the pursuit of a dream.
Some 800 miles away from McCormick Place in Chicago–where the Sixers were sighing in relief after landing in the top four of the 2025 NBA draft lottery–there is a man who was just as excited. That man is John Buck, the head coach of the Long Island Lutheran High School basketball team.
Buck has witnessed VJ Edgecombe blossom from a poised high schooler to a face of an entire city’s hope, both now and in the future. "I'm so glad he got drafted by them. You look at the other teams around that pick. You're like, 'Please no.' He gets drafted into a team that can win with good veterans,” Buck told On SI in a recent phone interview. “I'm so thankful. That situation means a lot." Before Philadelphia, Buck or Long Island Lutheran , there was a teenager leaving behind the comfort of his beloved ocean in the Bahamas for the pursuit of a dream. An AAU coach connected Edgecombe to Anthony Ricks, the director and coach of AAU program Austin Rivers SE Elite. Even as a 10th-grader navigating a new AAU program, Edgecombe exhibited the poise and focus that is changing the trajectory of the Sixers today. "For sure. He's done that for my organization, too," Ricks told On SI in a phone interview with a chuckle."When he first flew up to start with us, he got off the plane, picked him up and he was right in the gym,” Ricks said. “Immediately, he wanted to go right to the gym.”“He thinks it helps his body in recovery and such, and it does. Any time he's nearPerhaps staring up at the limitless sky from the water afforded him the canvas to imagine his goal.“He's like, 'This kid right here is really good'. You could see he was really aggressive, played really hard, lot of the stuff he does to this day. He was pretty athletic then, just not six-foot-five-plus,” Ricks recalled. It was a big deal that he stood out in a tournament that included the Thompson twins and Overtime Elite.“It’s just easy to love the kid.”“Someone said, 'We got a Baylor player for you, and he fits your culture,' Baylor head coach Scott Drew told On SI in a phone interview. “I said, 'What do you mean?' He goes, 'He was in Italy, playing in a tour or a tournament. They couldn't find him, and they're waiting to check into the hotel. He was with the baggage, reading his Bible on a Sunday. So they said he was a Baylor kid.”"He didn't mind being embarrassed. He could laugh at himself," Drew said. "Raised with a unique value system. Super humble, respectful. Being from the Bahamas with a different upbringing than a lot of American kids,” Buck recalled.Buck noticed Edgecombe’s approach to open gyms and early workouts. There was no ego, nothing to prove. “He really, in trying to be a great teammate, was not doing that in a way where he was taking all these shots or anything like that. He almost in a way, it sounds crazy to say, slow-played it a little bit.”regards Edgecombe as a little brother. But it’s the whole family that opens their arms to others. “He just gave my parents tickets to a Toronto Raptors game because I'm from Toronto," Celestine told On SI in a phone interview. "I'm close to his family; his little brothers, his older brothers, two twin sisters, his mom." Edgecombe’s mother and grandmother would send VJ back to campus with helpings from their home-cooked meals for Celestine."He came back before the season started and paid us a surprise visit. The kids are like, 'Oh my Gosh.' He knows all of these young kids in the school,” Buck recalled. “I think that's a great example of he wasn't shy to himself or his teammate group. All these kids in the school were coming up and talking to him and he knew their names. Just a personable guy.”"He'll recognize if someone needs to be picked up. He'll go talk to him. If he thinks the team needs to be brought together, he'll huddle them up and talk,” Drew explained. “A lot of freshmen want to wait and see how things are run, how they're done. They fit in. VJ is one of those guys, the minute he stepped in, he's like, 'I'm going to help lead.' "God gave him an ability to lead, and he does it in a way that doesn't offend people. He can confront somebody, and he can do it in a way that doesn’t turn them off but has them actually do what is right.”“He has respect because of the relationships and the way he treats people. He knows how to phrase things that bring people together and allow them to actually do what needs to be done,” Drew said. “I remember when he first got to Philly, he told me how much fun he was having with Joel . I'm sure a lot of rookies would've been intimidated. The fact that other vets on the team, he wanted to learn from, he wanted to spend time with rather than just do his thing."“He and my daughter always had a fun interaction. Just seeing him with her, a lot of guys don't know what to do with little kids. He was so playful and kind to her and my two boys,” Buck remembered.When the Sixers visited the Dallas Mavericks, Edgecombe noticed Baylor fans sitting courtside, wearing his jerseys."We've seen a lot of pros, and VJ's ability to love college and unpack his bags and enjoy every moment–remarkable," Drew recalled. "Never distracted about the NBA. He's like, 'That'll come. Right now, I want to enjoy college, my teammates. I want to have this memory.' To be where his feet were was so cool."But make no mistake: Underneath that smile and grounded personality is a ruthless competitor.Those on Edgecombe’s journey portray his on-court spirit with ferocity and Michael Jordan-esque self-motivational tactics. Ricks remembers the Adidas Finals in Edgecombe’s last AAU year, a matchup featuring another highly ranked guard. “I could just see in his eyes, he was really taking this one personal," Ricks said. "He told me right before the ball tip, 'I'm going to kill this kid.' That was an all-world performance. It's one of those games where every college coach is there and everybody's just watching and you just hear the buzz of people whispering and stuff every time he makes a play. “He was the top of the food chain in that class that VJ came out in, and it was just like a five-year NBA vet playing against a high schooler. He guarded him the whole game. He punked the kid. We won big. It was supposed to be a close game. We beat them by 20. He was just so imposing."Celestine recalls a workout with Edgecombe around the time the former committed to Baylor. "When I went to LuHi to work out and he was still in high school, we were working out, and he just took every shooting drill so seriously," the current Cincinnati Bearcats senior told On SI. "He just wanted to beat me because I'm considered a shooter and he wanted to be really good at that.” “After we had a really challenging practice, I said, 'Listen, guys: If I'm going to war, I'm taking VJ Edgecombe,'” Buck added.dunk on Justin EdwardsFor Drew, it’s Edgecombe’s approach to the game. His humility isn’t just for the microphones and cameras. “What I think people maybe didn't know until you coached him or spent time with him is just his high character and his high regard for his teammates. There's no pride in his game. One of the biggest servants,” Drew said.SportsCenter , that don't show up other than winning. That's what you come to appreciate when you coach somebody because you understand the importance of winning plays. That's loose balls, blocking out, sprinting back on defense.” Edgecombe’s athleticism tantalized Drew, just as it does everyone else. But he surprised Baylor with his ability as a point guard.“Nurse has believed in him from the beginning as being an elite playmaking guard,” Ricks said. “Nurse has always, from the jump, from his interview, from the first time he ever went to the press conference, he said, 'I'm going to put the ball in his hands and he's going to be a playmaker for us'. He's lived by that.”While no one could have foreseen Edgecombe growing into the NBA game at this pace, his coaches laugh at the skepticism surrounding his shooting. "I've always told everybody that it was literally a myth. Like, did you guys watch him shoot? When I saw him first play, I watched him hit eight threes in a game. Legit, college-level threes,” Ricks told On SI. “He's always been able to shoot. That's always been just something that just got pegged on him where people questioned it. He had a tough stretch to start college for different reasons.” “It was something before, everybody just thought he was more of an athlete. They didn't know what they were getting in that regard,” Ricks said. “I watched him set records in our shooting drills that we do. I always laughed when teams would call and be skeptical of that part of his game,” Buck added.“A lot of guys, as practice ends, want to go to the locker room and chat with friends or whatever. He would consistently be getting shots after practice, waking up for 6 a.m. workouts with our staff. He came here with a purpose. Even at a young age, that purpose was very clear,” Buck told On SI. “There's a lot of players that work really hard. He's professional about it. He gets in, he works on what he needs to. He doesn't work on stuff that he doesn't need to. He doesn't overwork his body where he's tired. He had that pro mentality,” Drew added."Let's go, BIG DAWG!""Before games, he always relaxed me because he came to the sideline with the biggest smile and said, 'Let's go, BIG DAWG!'" Drew remembered with a laugh. "He has that energy, that swag, that charisma. It relaxes and breathes confidence.”“People use 'athleticism,' but how do you use your athleticism? He has force,” Buck said When you see him attacking in the full court, it's different. It's like, whoa. Just like a blur going through. “He has such a great feel on both sides of the ball that when you combine that with his high motor and force, it makes for a great player." Edgecombe solidified his standing within his recruiting class with signature moments—not just against other high-level recruits, but in high-pressure environments. “The ferocity of that Imhotep game, that big dunk he had on Justin Edwards. The way he took over that game in a challenging environment,” Buck recalled. LuHi participated in an event in the Bahamas during Edgecombe’s senior year. Edgecombe had a pair of massive games on his island, around his people.The true essence of Edgecombe, though, is that he can do heroic things on a basketball court while never being too far removed from who he is outside of basketball. Mentally, he never strays far from the Bahamas or the ocean. He never strays far from his love for animals, watching the type of shows you’d find on National Geographic. “He has a love, he and his best friend Jazzy, for NBA Youngboy. That's their Michael Jackson," Ricks said. “He's a great person on and off the court. The personality you guys see is really who he is. He's a genuine human,” Celestine added. And with every dogged defensive play and clutch basket, Edgecombe is changing the future of the Sixers.
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