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INDIANAPOLIS — We have to start with the ’stache.
Because that’s who Doug Edert is. The mustache defines his persona.
The 22-year-old junior guard at St. Peter’s, the Cinderella story of the NCAA Tournament after its shocking overtime upset of blue-blood Kentucky on Thursday night, doesn’t give a damn.
Not in a bad way. In a productive, self-assured way. Edert, a proud native of Nutley, N.J., is self-confident enough — without displaying an ounce of put-you-off cockiness — to not care what anyone thinks about him or his appearance, which at the moment is 1970s porn-star chic.
It started with teammate and roommate Matthew Lee, who happens to be the team barber, giving Edert a grooming of his scruffy look a few weeks ago. As Lee did his work, he left the mustache for a goof. Then all involved thought it was a good look, one that made Edert look tough.
Edert went out and had a big game and then had another and the Peacocks kept winning and … here we are.
As much as Saint Peter’s has put Jersey City on the college basketball map in the wake of its remarkable upset, Edert has become the face of Cinderella. A face with that questionable-looking ’stache.
Edert doesn’t even start, yet he’s the deadliest shooter on the 15th-seeded Peacocks (20-11), who play No. 7 seed Murray State (31-2) on Saturday night at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse with Sweet 16 berth in the balance.
Edert, who starred in Saint Peter’s run to the MAAC Tournament title, scored 20 points off the bench against Kentucky, assuring that the Peacocks — and the ’stache — would live to see another high-profile NCAA Tournament moment.
A win over Murray State and a Sweet 16 berth, and the ’stache might have its own Twitter handle.
“Once people started calling him a ’70s porn star, calling him Ted Lasso, he’s like, ‘All right, just bring it, let’s go,’ ’’ Edert’s father, Bill, told The Post on Friday. “He called me and said, ‘There are kids at Saint Peter’s with mustaches on their face, what is going on?’ I’m like, ‘What’s going on? This is what you did. You created this.’
“Most people have a little bit of fear about what people think of them. He’s out there with that crazy hair and that mustache right now just doing his thing. That’s who he is. He almost reminds me of Will Farrell.’’
Edert laughed when The Post relayed his father’s words to him Friday.
“It’s just my personality,’’ Edert said. “The way I grew up, I didn’t really care what people thought about me, and I try to embrace it so when I’m on the court I try to do my own thing. It helps me stay relaxed.’’
Bill Edert said when Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway recommended his son shave the mustache, Doug’s response was: “ ‘Coach, why don’t you grow a ’stache?’ There’ve been refs that talk to him and say, ‘You look like a ’70s porn star. You gonna keep that thing?’ And he says, ‘You should grow a mustache.’ That’s his answer to everyone. He has that little way about him.’’
What exactly is that “way’’ about him? Consider the conversation Doug Edert had with his dad hours before the Kentucky game.
“If I see one go through the net, I’m telling you I’m going to do this tonight,’’ Doug told his father.
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“OK, hopefully you don’t lose by 40-plus.’’ Bill responded.
“I’m just trying to be real with him,’’ Bill said. “And he’s like, ‘Nope, I’m just telling you, I’m gonna own the court.’ It’s a mindset.’’
Mike Byrne, Edert’s JV coach at Bergen Catholic and a linchpin in recruiting him to the New Jersey high school powerhouse, knows the mindset. He first met Edert when he was in seventh grade, and saw something special.
“He’s like a complete freak with his shooting, the way he dissects the shooting stroke,’’ Byrne told The Post by phone from Jersey while he was scrambling to find a flight to Indianapolis to be in the building Saturday night. “The level of detail with the time and effort he puts in is incredible. He’s just a competitive freak. He’s just wired correctly. He can play any sport. He’s gonna make a lot of money in business.
“The kid is unbelievable. Balls of steel, big shot after bit shot, just amazing. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it. He’s now a New Jersey basketball icon. Everybody knows who he is now. He’s gone national.
“The kid is the goods.’’
The mustache?
“The ’stache is cash,’’ Byrne said with a laugh. “It looks hideous. He looks like a 1970s porn star. He’s shooting the crap out of the ball, so we’ve got to roll with it.’’
Marty Higgins, the all-time leading scorer at Nutley High School, who ran a youth basketball team called “Suburban Elite,’’ recalled first meeting Edert when he was in the second or third grade. Edert was playing flag football and Higgins immediately noticed his athleticism and thought, “I wonder if he’s good in basketball?’’
Higgins introduced himself to Bill Edert that day, suggested basketball, and the rest is history.
“All he wanted to do was shoot and make sure he’s shooting right,’’ Higgins recalled Friday. “He would watch YouTube videos on how to shoot, how to spin drive, dribble between the legs.’’
Fast forward to the Kentucky game.
“You saw poise,” Higgins said. “You see deer-in-the-headlights moments from a lot of kids that get caught up in this big game, and he never has that. If you really watched Doug the whole game, he was like, ‘I belong here, this is my time.’ ’’
The genesis of Edert’s exquisite outside shot that stung Kentucky when it counted most on Thursday was born at a sidewalk hoop on Durant Place in Nutley, where he grew up.
“It all started when I was on my street where I grew up, with a hoop on my sidewalk,’’ he said. “I live on a quiet street, so I was able to get shots up all the time. That’s all I wanted to do as a kid, go outside and shoot. My dad was always out there rebounding for me.’’
The hoop is still there, where his parents still live.
“As soon as I go home after this,’’ he said, “I’ll probably be back there shooting around again.’’
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