Don Edwards first came to University of California-Riverside as head baseball coach and assistant football coach in 1956. After leaving for a few years to complete his PhD in Physical Education from Indiana University, he returned to the diamond as baseball coach at UCR.
In 1967, Edwards, along with ABCA Hall of Famer Gary Adams, started the popular Riverside Baseball Invitational and served as tournament director for 15 years. Known as "The RBI", it was the first in-season, premier collegiate baseball tournament of its kind, featuring NCAA Div. I teams from across the country. Over 50 future Major League Baseball players and teams from 26 states came and spent a week in Riverside playing baseball.
Edwards was an assistant coach for the 1975 USA Pan American silver medalist team and served on the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee for 10 years.
In 1989, Edwards retired after a 30-year career at UCR as a coach, professor and chair of the physical education department. Edwards also authored the "Baseball Coaches Complete Handbook."
Edwards has many Hall of Fame honors, including receiving the UCR Athletic Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Award in 1990 and induction into the Western Michigan Hall of Fame in 1991, the Riverside Sport Hall of Fame in 2010 and the UC Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
