Zach Edey’s sophomore leap has Purdue expecting big things come March
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (BVM) – At 23-4 on the year and ranked No. 5 in the country, the Purdue Boilermakers continue to have one of their best seasons in recent memory. The team has been dominant for many reasons, but one in particular is its size.
Returning senior Trevion Williams has again been a true force inside for Purdue. However, it is the sophomore leap of center Zach Edey that has the Boilermakers in position for a Big Ten title and potential Final Four run.
Growing up in Toronto, Edey‘s main sports were hockey and baseball. He excelled at both throughout his youth, even garnering some early college looks from Division I baseball programs.
However, midway through high school in 2017, Edey was persuaded by his friend’s dad to try his hand on the hardwood. In just four-and-a-half years, the Purdue center has developed into one of the top players in a Division I, Power 5 conference.
Playing locally, Edey was recruited to join Northern Kings, an AAU basketball program based out of Toronto. Before long, Edey got a chance to play for Team Canada, joining its U17 squad.
For his senior year of high school, the 7-foot-4 center went down to Florida to play at IMG Academy, helping his team to the Under Armour Rise Championship. As his rapid rise in the sport continued, big-time college offers began rolling in for Edey.
Despite college interest from many, including defending national champion Baylor, Edey decided to head to West Lafayette, Indiana and play for Matt Painter’s Purdue squad. Having a rich recent history of dominant big men including the likes of Isaac Haas and Matt Haarms, Purdue seemed like a perfect fit.
“We are very excited that Zach chose to reclassify, which gave us the opportunity to recruit him,” Painter said on signing day in November 2019. “He’s got tremendous upside and can move really well for someone his size. He can get up and down the court and has a really good feel for what is happening on the floor. He isn’t just a low-post player and that is something that is developing with his size, in that they can do other things. We are really looking forward in helping him develop and working with him. He is somewhere between Isaac Haas and Matt Haarms.”
At first, it seemed to be exactly that, as Edey scored 19 points in 16 minutes in his first collegiate game against Liberty. He followed that up with four other non-conference performances in which he scored in double digits.
However, as Big Ten play came around, Edey struggled, failing to make an impact through the first month or so of the season. Finally, the center turned the corner in February, beginning with a 12-point, 11-rebound performance against Northwestern. By March, Edey achieved back-to-back 20-point games with a then-career-high 21 against Wisconsin, finishing as a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
“It’s everything,” Edey said about the confidence he gained from his performance against Wisconsin last March. “Having a game like this shows me that what I’m doing in practice, the extra reps I’m putting up, it’s helping me make shots in the game. I’m just going to keep working like I always have.”
While the season ended with an early NCAA Tournament loss to North Texas for the Boilermakers, there was no doubt the future was bright with the return of Edey and fellow 2020 class members, Jaden Ivey and Mason Gillis, among others.
Expectations in West Lafayette were as high as they have been in years for the men’s basketball program coming into the season, and rightfully so. With most of their core returning, the Boilermakers have been dominant, losing just four games to Big Ten foes in Rutgers, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.
Ivey is of course still the headliner of the team and leads the Boilermakers with 17.4 points per contest. A deep roster that includes guys like Williams, Gillis and Sasha Stefanovic among others has also played a key role. However, Edey’s presence can’t be understated.
Playing in all 26 games, the big man has averaged 14.4 points and 7.6 rebounds on the offensive end and is top 10 in the nation in field goal percentage at 67.5%. He also averages 1.1 blocks per game and is of course a huge presence on the defensive end with his 7-foot-4 frame and 7-foot-7 wingspan, something Painter was excited about prior to the season.
“Zach causes a lot of problems,” Painter said at Big Ten Media Days in the fall. “He causes a lot of problems for us in practice. I don’t really have a good answer how to deal with them. He’s improved. He’s very, very good.”
Like his freshman season, Edey came out of the gates hot in the non-conference slate with multiple 20-plus point games, including a 21-point effort in a win over then No. 5 Villanova. Unlike last year, Edey’s play has not slowed down a bit in the Big Ten slate.
In late January, the Purdue center set a new career high with 24 points on 10 made field goals against the Badgers once again. He also proved dominant a few games later with a 20-point, eight-rebound effort against Big Ten Player of the Year candidate Kofi Cockburn and Illinois, and followed that up with another 20-point effort against Ohio State.
“There’s nobody else out there like him,” Painter said about Edey after Purdue’s win over Ohio State. “There might be some people of that size, but they don’t have the skill that he has, in terms of his ability to make shots around the rim. It’s a really tough matchup for people, but he averaged four points two years ago in high school. Like Jaden Ivey’s a really talented player – he averaged 12 his senior [year] in high school. So these guys are young players still learning.
“But Zach, he’s a matchup nightmare for people. And he’s worked really hard defensively to try to stay on the court as much as he can … He’s a joy to coach. Comes early, stays late. He works on his game a lot, takes in things, watches extra film. He’s always wanting to get better, stuff like that. If you can have a lot of guys like that, that gets contagious and that’s a good thing.”
Edey has grabbed six or more rebounds in all but two Big Ten contests this season, and has scored in double digits in all but three. Needless to say, the big man has become one of the most valuable players in the conference as just a sophomore.
One reason for the jump may have been his experience playing in the 2021 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. With teammates in Ivey and Caleb Furst playing on Team USA, Edey helped lead Team Canada to a bronze medal, averaging 15.1 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks across the seven contests he played. The 14.1 rebound average was the third best in U19 World Cup event history as Edey made the event’s All-Star 5 team.
As impressive as his individual success has been, it remains all about the team for Edey. Purdue is down to just four games left in its regular season, which includes rematches with Rutgers and Indiana, and some tough road games against Michigan State and Wisconsin.
There will be nothing easy about that closing stretch or the Big Ten Tournament, but with Edey among other stars Purdue has, this may be the best shot at a deep run on the national stage.
The makeup of Purdue’s roster could look entirely different over the next couple of years, with Edey potentially taking on an even bigger role. However, it is all about the here and now. The Toronto native has a chance to be one of the most valuable players in college basketball come March, and may just be the one to help the Boilermakers reach their first Final Four in over four decades.
