The Hofstra University men’s basketball team added their first recruit of the 2024-25 season. On Tuesday, Sept. 10, head coach Speedy Claxton and his staff signed three-star recruit Preston Edmead, a guard from Deer Park, NY.
The six-foot guard had offers from many schools including Seton Hall University, Iona University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
After high school, Edmead left Long Island and took his talents to the prep school Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Edmead played in the Armature Athletic Union for the New York Renaissance, where he established himself as a playmaking guard who created havoc on defense to opposing ball handlers.
The New York Native’s father, John Edmead, told Charlie Parent, writer for ZAGSBLOG, that there were three reasons he chose Hofstra over the other programs: “the play style, a history of great guards and we love Speedy Claxton.”
The history of great guards at Hofstra, especially in recent memory, includes Tyler Thomas, who played Summer League ball this past summer for the Chicago Bulls, and Alabama University graduate Aaron Estrada, who played Summer League ball for the Detroit Pistons. Estrada and Thomas left their mark in Hempstead and set the standard for guard play in the program.
With the use of the pick and roll, Edmead makes many offensive plays. He has the awareness and basketball IQ to create space, deliver the ball to the open man, or drive to the basket and finish strong. Edmead shares traits that former Pride guard Jaquan Carlos had, before transferring to Syracuse University after the 2023-2024 season.
Before transferring to prep school in 2023, Edmead averaged 23.9 points per game for Deer Park High School. His fiery attitude and hustling style of play might be exactly what puts the Pride over the hump in 2025, along with the other young talent that Claxton added this offseason.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Lee S. Weissman
