The most celebrated women's basketball player in Georgia history is joining Atlanta's new WNBA team — although not on the court.

Five-time Olympian and two-time University of Georgia All-American Teresa Edwards will be the analyst on Atlanta Dream telecasts on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS).

"Honestly, I wish I could still play," said Edwards, 43, who last played professionally in 2004. "I want to be involved in any way I can. [Broadcasting] has given me the opportunity."

The Dream opens its inaugural season May 17 at Connecticut. The home opener is May 23 against Detroit at Philips Arena.

All of the Dream's 34 games will be broadcast on radio stations WALR (1340 AM) and WFOM (1230 AM), with veteran sportscaster Art Eckman coming out of a brief retirement to handle play-by-play. Eight games, including the opener, will be televised on sports channel CSS, with Edwards joining play-by-play voice Bob Neal. CSS is available to 5.8 million Comcast and Charter cable subscribers in 12 Southeastern states.

Eckman was the sports director of Atlanta's WXIA-TV from 1978-1991 and has called San Francisco Giants, Oakland Raiders, Houston Rockets and Hawks games. In recent years, he worked motorsports telecasts for ESPN and the Outdoor Channel.

"I retired about half a year ago and was just bored to death after 40-plus years," he said.

Neal adds the Dream to a long list of Atlanta teams for which he has called games: the Falcons (1975-81 and 1995-97), Hawks (2003-06), Braves (briefly in 1986) and two long-gone teams, the hockey Flames and the soccer Chiefs. He has worked national telecasts of the NBA and other sports on TNT and TBS.

"I will say this bluntly: I am as excited about going to work with [Edwards] as almost anyone I've ever worked with, because she is such an icon," Neal said.

Edwards, a native of Cairo, Ga., was the first basketball player, man or woman, to compete in five Olympics. A guard, she was the youngest (age 20 in 1984) and oldest (age 36 in 2000) women's basketball player to win an Olympic gold medal.

Although she played most of her pro career overseas, she was player-coach of the short-lived Atlanta Glory of the defunct American Basketball League in 1996-97. She later played two seasons for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx.

"To have a professional team in my home state is just a tremendous feat in my eyes," she said of the Dream.

Edwards has done prior broadcasting work on SEC women's basketball games.