CAIRO — A standing ovation greeted Teresa Edwards on a return to her hometown.

The former U.S. Olympic women’s basketball star starred at the Jackie Robinson Boys and Girls Club’s Diamond Affair on Thursday night at the Grady Cultural Center.

“It’s good to be home,” she said. “It’s good to be back and to have an opportunity to give. You see that journey? I came from here, y’all.”

Edwards played on five U.S. Olympic teams on four different continents. She also played professionally in Italy before coming home to play and coach in the ABL and later the WNBA. 

“I owe,” she said. “I am willing to pay. I am willing to do whatever I have to to say I tried to make a way. 

“What I notice is I owe. I owe. it’s not about me. It’s not just about me. I had my chance. Therefore, I must do.”

The city named Teresa Edwards Street in her honor following the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where she won the first of her four gold medals. Edwards also was part of gold medal-winning teams in Seoul (1988), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000).   

Edwards recalled playing ball at Holder Park as a child, and “Bruh” Sanford not only put her to work, he also gave her a shot at playing ball. He even brought in teams from other places for games.

“Bruh was special to me and to every kid and adult down there,” Edwards said. “He let me play, playing with grown women.”

Edwards even acknowledged keeping the truth about making the middle school team from her mother — until she had to let her know.  

Because it was time to get sneakers for basketball.

“My mama put those new sneakers in my hand and said, ‘you better play,’” Edwards recalled.

Edwards remarked how her high school coach, Cindy Kozlowski, went around the community to get support for the basketball team.

“We didn’t have money. Coach Kozlowski was knocking on doors, and people were opening their doors,” Edwards said. “She partnered with parents. And they became a stronger team for us. I didn’t know any of this — I’m just playing basketball. That’s all I wanted to do. I loved playing basketball, beside it being the only thing I could beat all the boys in.”

Kozlowski’s efforts also served as an example for Edwards.

“She was an angel for me,” she said. “She passed away before I was able to say this to you. She groomed us. She was humble. She was hungry. And she had some of the greatest humility I’ve ever seen in a person. When you meet people like that, it’s special. She was moving. That’s who we have to be.

“When you come together, without seeking something from it, to make it better for others.”

But as Edwards’ reputation as a ball player grew — she was named state girls player of the year as Cairo won the 1982 Class AAA state championship — she still wasn’t easy to find.

“Nobody knew where Cairo, Georgia was when I was playing basketball,” she said. 

She starred at the University of Georgia and when she finished there, she played overseas in Italy. Women’s professional basketball leagues had not been formed in the U.S. then. 

And Edwards quickly discovered how different it was.

“Playing around the world opened up my eyes so huge,” she said. “I saw things, met people who were strangers one day and family the next. I learned to respect differences from traveling the world. I learned to acknowledge differences from traveling the world.”

She also had to adapt to speaking a different language — and learned quickly that 20-minute phone calls back then could cost up to $100.

“This country girl from Cairo … let me tell you when you start learning a foreign language — get hungry,” she said.

Edwards thanked the many people who helped her on her basketball journey around the world that started in Cairo. And now, she says, it’s her turn.

“I bounced a basketball around the world,” she said. “I’m so thankful for where I come from because for all that it made me much that more prepared to go out in the world and represent where I came from. 

“I haven’t had the opportunity to give you as much as you have given me. Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for making a way for this country girl blessed with a gift for playing a game. It took a little goodness and it smiled greatness upon me.”