Sincere Edwards is proud to be a Hometown Hero.
UCF's summer of local recruiting success took another big step forward Wednesday when Edwards, a four-star defensive end from Apopka's Wekiva High School, announced his decision on the first day of his junior year.
He becomes UCF's first commit in the Class of 2024 and the earliest commitment in UCF history.
UCFSports.com caught up with Edwards to talk about his decision.
"They're local, so that's a big plus," Edwards said. "I made my decision I wanted to commit during my last visit for Knight Splash. The atmosphere, it feels so much like family. We had a water balloon fight which was the most epic thing ever. It felt like family.
"Then the other time before, the second to last visit, Bounce House Weekend, I brought my family out. There was so much love shown to my family. My little brother was participating in the pie-eating contest with me. He dunked my face, I dunked him. Overall, it's a family there. I can genuinely say that."
It was at Knight Splash in late July that Edwards decided he was ready to make the decision.
"It was amazing," Edwards said of the visit. "They told me they'd love to have me of course. I also talked to Coach T-Will, telling him my thought process. Got their thought process. Everything was a go."
The commitment was finalized in the last couple weeks.
"I told them I would keep them posted," Edwards said. "Talking to my parents, my family, sitting down and having a real talk. Is this a good decision for me? Is this the best decision for me? Yeah. That was the common answer we all came to. The reason it is such a great decision is because I have a grandma - I live with my grandma who is fighting cancer - I don't want to leave her any time soon. I've got four younger siblings. I'm the oldest of five. Being close, I've got two younger brothers to look after too. I've got to teach them everything I know so they can surpass me eventually.
"Like I said, it's a family at UCF. Not everything is just about football."
The family loves it.
"My family was super happy," Edwards said. "Super lit. They wanted to go celebrate for dinner, but I was at practice. I just got out of practice an hour ago. My family loves it."
Edwards talked about the phone conversation with the coaches when he made the commitment official.
"They were all so excited. We were on the phone. I called them up. I loved it. I told them I was going to commit and all that. We had the edit made. It was a cool experience. I loved it."
UCF joining the Big 12 in 2023 also played a role in his decision. Now recruits know they can stay home and have the opportunity to play college football on the biggest stage.
"That impacted a lot," Edwards said. "I have multiple Power Five offers. For them to be going to the Big 12 is a big deal. We're going to play against great competition and we have a great coaching staff to go along with it. I just feel like with the players they're recruiting right now, everything is going to fall in line with the program."
Defensive tackles coach Kenny Martin, who is also from Orlando, served as his primary recruiter.
"My relationship with Coach Martin is real," Edwards said. "Coach Martin was recruiting me early as a freshman. I think UCF was my second or third offer. He was on me pretty early. Every time we talked, from the first conversation we had, I knew. I kept in contact with him 24/7 because they can't reach out to me. I made sure I was calling him at least once a week. Any time something happened football related, I'd call him up. I would send him clips and he'd help me on the phone break stuff down. And going to one of their practices and their meetings, I learned a lot from him. My relationship with him is just the best."
Edwards is the latest in a string of "Hometown Heroes" - local players from the Central Florida area - committing to UCF. He joins a group that includes 2023 commitments Kaven Call, Andrew Harris, Michael Harris, Grant Reddick, John Walker and Braeden Marshall. Did that resonate with him?
"Yes, it did," Edwards said. "Like I said, UCF is trying to turn their program around and you can see that with the recruits they're getting. They're trying to change their program around. I'm backyard talent. That's something I want to be a part of. We go to a championship, we can talk about how we're all local boys and we went all the way.
"As far as the recruits that just committed, I know all of them. As far as people on the team right now, the only one I know is Nikai (Martinez)."
Edwards recognizes that he now becomes the fact of UCF's 2024 recruiting class. He's going to help be a recruiter.
"That's the goal," Edwards said. "We're trying to build a championship team. I'm going to try and help get as many players as I can."
As a sophomore, Edwards had 62 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one forced fumble, three fumble recoveries and a blocked punt. He even contributed on offense, scoring four touchdowns.
Where does UCF see him fitting in?
"Coach Martin said strongside defensive end," Edwards said. "They could move me from end to backer. Just have me as a versatile player. Not just a one-position type player."
He's made a lot of gains in the weight room over the past year.
"We'll go to weightlifting meets and I wasn't always the biggest or strongest, so I'd get a lot of my points off power cleans," Edwards said. "The head coach of my school is also my uncle. I was able to out-lift him in power cleans. I did 325 for the first time, a clean rep. That's the new goal I just set with my power clean. I'm excited about it."
Edwards and the Wekiva Mustangs kick off the season on Friday, Aug. 26 at home against Olympia.
"Everybody's got the same mentality. States. I really feel like we're going to go all the way. I genuinely mean it. Comparing us to last year, we've come a long way. We only had like three guys leave that graduated. We had such a young team last year. Pretty much everybody is a veteran now. Our chemistry together is amazing. Practices are more live. Everything about it is coming together."
