‘Once in a generation’: Five-star Edwards brings national spotlight back to Lincoln High
Oliviyah Edwards wasn’t always known as “Big Oh.”
On the softball field, she was Olive. Basketball coaches quickly shortened it to “Oh,” which evolved into “Oh-Block” when the middle-school phenom flashed defensive prowess beyond her years. She wasn’t the all-around cornerstone just yet.
“Big Oh” arrived soon enough — and the nickname stuck.
“Or ‘O-Mazing!’” Lincoln coach Melanie Jones laughed, seated side by side with Edwards at Monday’s practice.
“O-Mazing!”
Edwards quickly shook her head, smiling. “No. That’s just, no.”
The nickname followed her to national showcases and college visits. It followed her to Issaquah’s Elite Prep, where she spent her sophomore and junior years after a dominant freshman season at Lincoln.
Now, “Big Oh” is back with the Lady Abes for one last ride in Tacoma, starting and finishing her high school career in black and gold.
“Oliviyah was still a (Running Start) student here at Lincoln High School,” Jones said. “It was a big deal for her to be able to rep Lincoln again and have that uniform on, but everybody knew her in the hallways. She was still Big-Oh Oliviyah in the hallways.”
The talent was always impossible to ignore. Edwards could dunk a basketball when she was 13 years old. She was offered by the likes of Big Ten powers Oregon and Ohio State in seventh grade. Adidas signed her to a NIL deal last spring, months before her senior season.
Her all-gold hoodie stood out immediately at Monday’s shootaround. Lincoln colors, at first glance, but something more after a second look.
What was different? What was the giveaway? Only one of the world’s most iconic and recognizable logos: The famous McDonald’s gold arches, stitched front-and-center on a circular patch inside the sea of gold. The top women’s basketball recruit west of the Mississippi River wore it with pride.
“I went to high school basketball because I was hoping to get a chance to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game,” she said. “That was my goal.”
WIAA-sanctioned high school basketball at Lincoln offered Edwards the All-American candidacy that Elite Prep couldn’t. A recent groin injury could prevent her from suiting up — nominees must complete 50 percent of their senior season — but one of the nation’s top players is a no-brainer selection when healthy.
With overpowering interior skills and a blossoming knockdown jumper, Edwards is the nation’s No. 2 player in the 2026 class, a five-star recruit per ESPN’s NEXT 100. The 6-foot-3 forward nearly averaged a triple-double throughout the first half of her senior season, piling 32 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists per game.
“She gets double- and triple-teamed all the time,” Jones said. “There’s not many players in high school basketball getting triple-teamed.
“And those triple-teams don’t work.”
Jones first met Edwards seven years ago, when “Big Oh” was still in fifth grade. She’s had a front-row seat for the progression of a superstar ever since.
“Absolutely a once-in-a-generation player,” Jones said. “For me, more than anything, is her leadership. Verbally and physically. She’s here, she works hard the whole time, she encourages the team.
“There was a game where we were down by quite a bit in Oregon. At halftime, she was just so positive. Like, ‘Let’s just go out and give it our all. Let’s leave everything on the floor.’”
Offers from the blue bloods of college basketball rolled in before Edwards committed to the SEC’s Tennessee Volunteers, a program rich with history and eight NCAA championships under legendary coach Pat Summitt’s direction (1974-2012).
And Edwards? She’s counting down the days until arriving on campus, already envisioning her dorm room set up with a flat-screen TV and Xbox. She may even splurge on a PC.
“Your teammates are important,” Edwards said. “For me, in my head, I’m thinking, who do I want to have bad times with? Of course, these schools can put on a show and show me everything that’s good about the school. But I feel like all of the schools are going to have something good about it.
“It’s what happens when it’s bad, and when we’re losing, or when we just have a rough day.
“Are these the people that I want to have a rough day with?
“That’s just what it came down to, and Tennessee was the best pick for me.”
Edwards begins physical therapy for her groin injury in the coming days, confident the setback is only a matter of weeks, not months.
“I just think I need to stretch more,” she said. “We’ll see. I don’t think it’ll take too long. Hopefully not. Hopefully just a few weeks.”
Either way — as mind-boggling as it can be — “Big Oh” is far from her basketball ceiling.
“I think she’s the best ambassador that we could have for women’s basketball — not just from Washington State, but for our nation,” Jones said. “Because as you see, that smile. Every time, even at her worst, she’s smiling. She’s so welcoming to people. She’ll stop and she’ll introduce herself to people and things like that.
“I don’t know. God knew what he was doing when he gave her the gift he gave her. I tell people all the time — she’s a great basketball player, but a better human being.”
