It is a tale of two young men. Both are college sophomores.

One is a Bay Area native, the other is from the Caribbean island of Trinidad.

One stands at 5 feet 7-inches while the other towers at 6 feet 9 inches.’

They both play for University of Tampa men’s basketball team.

The two are guard Rudy Jean and forward Javon Edwards, to be exact.

Although at first glance they seem like opposites, they share a few commonalities.
For instance, they share a common goal for their team during their tenure at UT.
‘As a team, we want to be number one and win a national championship,’ Edwards said.
‘We want to win an NCAA championship, definitely,’ Jean concurred.

Each man also has his own reason for choosing UT over other potential schools.
‘I came here because of the combination of high academics and the ability to play basketball,’ Edwards explained.

‘[UT] is close to my house. I also came to play basketball and for academics,’ Jean stated.
The similarities do not stop there, as they both major in finance-related fields.

Jean majors in Accounting while Edwards is studying Economics.
Both stated that they, like most other NCAA athletes, plan to go pro in something other than sports.

In fact, Edwards has already set the bar high in his ambitions.

‘I want to graduate with honors in Economics and get my MBA. My goal is to go back home and use the knowledge I have acquired to help my country any way I can,’ said Edwards.

He didn’t stop there.

‘Ultimately, my goal is to get into politics and one day become the Prime Minister of Trinidad.’

As for Jean, his ambitions are a bit more modest, at least so far.

‘I want to become an accountant’hellip;I hope to get an internship my senior year.’
This David and Goliath comparison cannot be complete, however, without one last note of irony.’

Jean wears the uniform number 22, exactly half of Edwards’ jersey number, 44.

Ryan Burkett can be reached at rburkett@ut.edu.

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