By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH he's been hampered by a birth defect, Kevin 'KC' Edgecombe hasn't let his irregular size nor his speech defect to deter him from his goal of playing basketball.

At 19 years of age, he has secured an athletic scholarship to play for the Hawks men's basketball team at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.

The seven-foot center just completed high school at West Oakes Academy in Orlando, Florida. He left Teleos Christian Academy to prepare for college.

Now he's eager to take that next step in his goal of being a professional basketball player.

"I just want to show the division one and two coaches what I can do, at this scale and to see where I can go as a pro,"Edgecombe Jr said.

At West Oakes Academy, Edgecombe said the coaches prepared him for basketball and he did what he had to do in the classroom as a honored student.

As he prepares to enroll at Harper College in August, Edgecombe said he just want to help the Hawks win as many games as they can.

"I'm also looking forward to playing against the tough guys that I have to play against," he pointed out.

The Hawks, coached by LaMario Richards and assisted by Ivan Patterson, are coming of a 5-25 win-loss season, their first in the National junior College Athletic Association Division II conference.

While home for the summer, Edgecombe said he's trying to embrace every opportunity he get to go on the basketball court and work his game.

He's currently training in the Raw Talent Sports program being conducted by pro player/coach/agent Jaraun 'Kino' Burrows at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

"Those 6 am workout sessions are really helping me," said Edgecombe, who admitted that he needs to improve on his footwork and be more aggressive.

His father, Kevin Edgecombe Sr, said he's excited about the path that his tread to get to college and he's confident that he will do very well.

"There were many offers, but in doing our research, we felt that Harper College would be a good fit for him," said the father, who is an educator and Pastor.

"We expect him to keep his grades up and maintain his honor role status," the senior Edgecombe said. "We also hope that gets stronger to develop his game and to stay focused, but more importantly to put God first in everything and he will be fine."

When Edgecombe Jr was born, he weighed about 16 pounds, according to Edgecombe Sr. He had to be detained in the hospital for about two weeks after because of a medical challenge he encountered.

"He was about to outgrow them and function here. He's been in the US for the past two years and functioned very well there," Edgecombe Sr noted.

"His GPA was like 3.88 on his GPA this past term, It started off with 3.5, 3.7 and then 3.8. Outside of that, there's no challenges."

Edgecombe Jr is the son of Racquel Edgecombe and the older sibling to two sisters, Kelly Edgecombe, a 16-year-old who attends Queen's College and participates in every sport, and Kriscel Edgecombe, a 12-year-old student at Teleos.

Edgecombe Jr said he just want to lead by example for his family.