Illinois State University’s friendly environment is refreshing for sophomore Josh Edison, who recently transferred from Northern Illinois University to join the ISU men’s golf team. Edison made his debut appearance for the Redbirds last Monday at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate Tournament in Mobile, Ala.
   

Edison brings some significant accolades to the Redbird squad: his high school team finished second in the state in the 2010-11 season, and he finished seventh in the state as an individual. The SHG team went undefeated throughout two of his four years in high school.
    

Unlike many other athletes, Edison says that there was not a parent or particular family member who sparked his interest in golf. Instead, he pointed out that it started as an interest all his own ­— an individual competitive challenge where he could push himself while still playing for a team.

 “It was more that I just enjoyed it all depending on me, the individual aspect of it,” Edison said. “I loved the individual competition of [golf].”


The Redbird men’s golf team has faced some challenging fields so far this season, recently going up against a handful of some of the top teams in the country. However, although ISU and NIU are in different conferences, Edison says that the competition at Northern Illinois has prepared him fairly well for the teams he will be facing this spring for ISU.

“Northern Illinois is in the MAC conference, so they have to try and beat Kent State who is a golf powerhouse, and we’re in the Valley trying to beat Wichita State, who is kind of [a] golf powerhouse, so competition-wise the schools are pretty similar,” Edison explained. 
    

He did not delve into the details, but Edison alluded to poor decision-making that hindered his golf game while at NIU.  He explained that he was not working in the best interest of his team and needed to start fresh. ISU helped to give him that edge.

“Any student athlete would know how hard it is to organize time, and that’s kind of what went wrong for me last year at Northern,” Edison said.  “I wasn’t doing the right things to progress my golf game. You know, I learned, and now I pretty much practice everyday. It’s my getaway.”

When it comes to ISU, Edison made it very clear that the team and the atmosphere are much more inviting than his time spent at NIU. He noted that there is a special bond between him and his team members that he just did not have in Dekalb, and that makes him feel welcome.

“Obviously when I went there I thought I was making the right decision, and the coach put a lot of faith in me,” Edison said. “And then I got there, and things just didn’t work out for me — on the golf side and in my personal life.

“Then I got here, and I really didn’t know what to expect.  Obviously it’s a whole new thing, starting over as a freshman again.  Then there’s meeting new people,” Edison added. “But the team here is very, very inviting. So it’s great to be surrounded by such a good group of [people] on the men’s and women’s side.”

Edison stressed that the Illinois State environment has made him much more content.

 “ISU is so much more comfortable for me.  I’ve adapted pretty well and gotten to know quite a few people.  Being surrounded by the golf team all the time — we like to hang out, have fun — at Northern that wasn’t really the case,” Edison said. “And Normal is just so much more comfortable for me to live in than Dekalb was.”

Edison is not the only athlete to speak so highly of ISU and the environment surrounding both academic life and Redbird Athletics. The friendly and welcoming atmosphere that makes people want to stay, and brings talent like Josh Edison to the field, doesn’t go unnoticed.