Edney Taking His Shot at National Team : Basketball: UCLA guard is competing for a spot on the team that will represent the United States at the Goodwill Games.

Tyus Edney slipped the red, white and blue Team USA basketball practice jersey over his head, glanced at the talent spread throughout the room and pondered the moment at UC Irvine.

Soon, Edney, UCLA’s swift and steady senior point guard, would walk onto the floor at Crawford Hall for the first time, taking the initial step toward turning a dream into reality. The emotion of his participation, however, overwhelmed him before he even touched a ball.

“It’s really important for me to play for (the national) team,” Edney said recently. “It’s just exciting to have the opportunity to represent your country.

“Growing up and watching all the Olympic teams and the Dream Team you say to yourself, ‘Well, maybe one day I can do that, too.’ ”

One of the nation’s standout guards, Edney, 21, is battling for a position on the team that will represent the United States during the Goodwill Games, July 23-28 at St. Petersburg, Russia. And although he might not survive the final cut, he has displayed flash and substance.

“It’s a lot of fun playing against this type of competition; the best competition in the country,” Edney said. “It’s been intense at times. You always have to play your best just to compete at the level of everyone else.”

Edney’s best is usually better than most, which is why he’s here.

Team USA Coach George Raveling invited Edney and five others to compete for four open roster spots on the 12-man team. The slots were vacated because of injuries to Corliss Williamson (left wrist) of Arkansas and Randolph Childress (left shoulder) of Wake Forest, and summer-school scheduling conflicts encountered by Ed O’Bannon, Edney’s teammate at UCLA, and Marcus Camby of Massachusetts.

Raveling, who coaches USC, is well aware of Edney’s skills. For three seasons, Raveling has watched Edney spark the Trojans’ cross-town rival with seemingly impossible passes and clutch jump shots.

A crowd favorite at Pauley Pavilion since his freshman year when he supplanted senior point guard Darrick Martin as the starter, Edney arrived on the UCLA campus with little fanfare. He was not highly recruited while at Long Beach Poly--but he quickly showed that that was a mistake.

As a junior, Edney averaged 15.4 points and 5.8 assists, placing him ninth and third in the Pacific 10. Few are better in the clutch, as his .820 free-throw percentage of last season (.825 in his career) attests.

Edney was lavished with postseason honors, including his second consecutive All-Pac 10 selection.

“I’ve always been a Tyus Edney fan,” Raveling said. “He does an excellent job pushing the ball and leading the transition game.”

Former Marina High standout Cherokee Parks (Duke), Damon Stoudamire of Arizona and Scotty Thurman of national champion Arkansas are among the eight players assured of traveling overseas. The final roster will be determined when training camp ends Friday.

The last spot might come down to a showdown between Edney and Arkansas point guard Corey Beck.

Edney and Beck play the same position and are equally relentless on defense--any type of defense, anywhere on the floor at anytime of the game. The similarities, however, end there.

Diminutive by major hoops standards, Edney (5 feet 10, 145 pounds) possess a consistent touch from the perimeter and uses his quickness to break down defenses and get into the lane. Conversely, Beck (6-2, 190) is physical, rebounds well and scores inside.

“Corey is a strong guard,” Edney said. “He utilizes his strength well.”

The admiration is mutual.

“Tyus is a great player,” Beck said. “I have a lot of respect for him.”

Stoudamire (5-11, 165) and Edney are virtually identical twins on the court, so the edge could be Beck’s because of the large size of opposing guards in the tournament. But while size is important, the coaches said Edney’s possible presence is no cause for worry.

“I would be more concerned if Tyus only played one end of the floor,” Raveling said. “But that big guard has to guard Tyus, too.

“So for what we might give up on defense, we’ll get more back.”

If Edney does make the team, minimizing the problem of his lack of size is not impossible, assistant coach Kelvin Sampson said.

“I don’t look at Tyus’ size, or Damon’s size for that matter, as being a hindrance for us,” said Sampson, coach at Oklahoma.

“I think we can do some things with our full-court pressure and our half-court pressure to counteract that. And most teams’ offenses are not geared toward posting up point guards.”

Likewise, Edney said, his size is no big deal.

“You can only be so effective as a point guard if you’re posting up all the time because you can’t run the team,” Edney said. “You get help from your big guys on defense in that situation, and you can counteract that on offense.

“My strength is getting the ball up and down (the floor).”

And at speeds that almost make you sympathize with beleaguered would-be defenders.

Edney has been in his element during the team’s practice games in the ASICS Summer Pro League at the Bren Center. He has been freezing defenders with wicked crossovers, darting through the lanes, tossing pinpoint passes and dribbling a basketball faster than most of his counterparts move with unoccupied hands.

“This will help out in the long run,” Edney said. “The guys playing in the league are the same type of guys we’ll be playing overseas.

“I have a little experience playing against some of these guys in (pickup) games at UCLA, and it always helps me out.”

When Edney returns to school, he will prepare for his final season. Including Edney, the Bruins have four starters back from last season’s squad that achieved a No. 1 ranking at one point before suffering a humiliating 112-102 loss to Tulsa in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Add four highly regarded freshmen whom some consider among the best recruits in the nation, and the Bruins again have great expectations.

No problem, Edney said.

“Ever since I’ve been at UCLA we’ve been a targeted team,” Edney said. “People want to beat us and I kind of like that situation.”

Edney, who is studying communications, said he is on track to graduate with his class. Barring complete erosion of his skills, he has a legitimate shot at being a first-round selection in the 1995 NBA draft.

Former USC linebacker Willie McGinest is a boyhood buddy of Edney’s and a former teammate at Long Beach Poly. McGinest was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the New England Patriots and recently signed a four-year, $6-million contract.

His pal’s good fortune has Edney thinking.

“I look at Wil and it’s exciting to see someone who you know and played with be successful,” Edney said. “You look at yourself and you say, ‘Yeah, I want to accomplish those things, too.’ ”