Happy Birthday Simone!

Happy Birthday to our favorite Shakin' Jamaican, Simone Edwards, who is 35 years young today. (Hat tip: Storm Fans.) That's a good excuse to bring everyone up to date on the latest on Simone.

After spending last season as an assistant coach at Radford University, Edwards has moved on to George Mason University this year, joining former Radford Head Coach Jeri Porter. The new staff is hoping to build a program to match the success the George Mason men have enjoyed in recent years, including the surprising run to the Final Four in 2006.

It sounds like Simone is already winning over another community. A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Lucy in Virginia, who plays for a 65+ basketball team and met Edwards at a local community center.

"We are proud to have her as an assistant coach for George Mason University," she wrote. "We hope to work with her to help her sent shoes, clothing, etc. to support the Jamaican children. She does have a beautiful smile and personality."

In other news ...
- Voting continues in WNBA.com's "Snap Judgment" photo competition, and a couple of Storm players are featured in the miscellaneous photos.

- With the college season tipping off, Patrick Sheehy at the Chasing the Title blog is taking a look at the top prospects for the 2009 WNBA Draft by the numbers.

- While you're thinking offseason, we're now less than a month away from teams and players being able to negotiate with each other on Dec. 15 (contracts can't be signed until Jan. 5, 2009). WNBA.com has a list of the available free agents, and this year that list is a little more complete since many teams (including the Storm) have already used their core designations.