Baylor's VJ Edgecombe hopes 'Philly likes Bahamians' after 76ers take him No. 3 overall in NBA draft

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — VJ Edgecombe experienced hardships throughout his childhood on Bimini, a tiny island in the Bahamas hardly known for developing NBA talent.

Only 19, it wasn't much more than a decade ago when Edgecombe knew that his basketball talent — developed on the “hard sand” of his native land — could be a way to provide so much more for his family.

“I don’t think anyone on the island would have dreams of playing in the NBA as well as making it,” Edgecombe said. “It would just sound so crazy.”

His crazy dream is set to become a reality in Philadelphia.

In win-now mode, the 76ers selected Edgecombe out of Baylor with the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night to add their trio of oft-injured All-Stars the team hopes can return to form and make the 76ers a healthy title contender.

“Maybe Philly likes Bahamians,” he said this week in New York. “We'll see.”

The 6-4, 193-pound Edgecombe boasts explosive athleticism that stands out at both ends, notably as an above-the-rim finisher who creates highlight-reel moments.

Edgecombe could be a rookie of the year contender or a rotation player, and his numbers next season won't matter much if two-time NBA scoring champion Joel Embiid can't make a successful return from knee surgery. Embiid had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April and the Sixers had yet to update his condition before the draft.

Former All-Stars and Paul George and Tyrese Maxey slogged through injury-plagued season as the 76ers — a franchise with perennial NBA championship aspirations — finished with a woeful 24-58 record that included a 5-31 stretch to close the season.

Team President Daryl Morey said he would spend the summer trying make the roster younger and more athletic to potentially help the team fight off the rash of injuries that wrecked the season and provide a bit of a cushion if the core trio are sidelined again for long stretches.

He starts with Edgecombe, picked over Rutgers star Ace Bailey, who canceled a pre-draft workout with the 76ers.

Edgecombe finished in the draft combine’s top 10 with a 38.5-inch max vertical leap, had seven games with at least three made 3s and 11 games with three-plus steals. He shot just 34% on 3s and made just 25% (13 of 59) in off-dribble jumpers, according to Synergy’s analytics rankings.

Edgecombe grew up in the Bahamas and is the the nation's highest-drafted player since Deandre Ayton was the No. 1 overall pick in 2018.

And now, he’s a guaranteed millionaire.

“Life wasn’t always great," Edgecombe said. "We weren’t as fortunate as a family. I was living off generators. There’s been nights I was sleeping in the heat, no electricity. Just grateful to be here today.”

Embiid, Maxey and George played all of 15 games together this season and the trio played a combined 119 games. Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP, played only 19 games. Morey said in April all three should be back at “100%” by training camp.

Edgecombe will be there to greet them — with a seven-mile island that includes NBA players and fellow natives Eric Gordon and Buddy Hield. Edgecombe was part of the Bahamian national team that also includedAyton.

“It shows that other kids can make it out,” Edgecombe said. “That’s the main thing. It’s telling the kids they can have confidence and showing them that once you have confidence, one you have faith, it’ll work.”

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VJ Edgecombe arrives for the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

VJ Edgecombe poses for a photo with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected third by the Philadelphia 76ers In the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

VJ Edgecombe walks across the stage after being selected third by the Philadelphia 76ers In the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

VJ Edgecombe, left, is congratulated by Cedric Coward after being selected third by the Philadelphia 76ers In the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday. Meanwhile, thousands of residents were still without power in Kyiv, following an intense Russian bombardment.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, Voronezh regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine's General Staff said Sunday said its forces hit three drilling platforms operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil in the waters of the Caspian Sea. Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion.

The attacks came after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials. For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said Sunday that 30,000 people in Kyiv were still without power following the attack. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday around half the apartment buildings — nearly 6,000 — in snowy Kyiv were left without heat in daytime temperatures of about minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit).

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners on Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s main intelligence directorate said Sunday that Russia this month deployed the new jet-powered “Geran-5” strike drone against Ukraine for the first time. The Geran is a Russian variant of the Iranian-designed Shahed.

According to the directorate, the drone can carry a 90-kilogram (200-pound) warhead and has a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)