Center Zach Edey spent the days following Purdue’s historic NCAA tournament loss lying low, his phone turned off, along with the rest of the outside world.
The disappointing conclusion to their run did little to diminish the season the Boilermakers big man put together.
After imposing his will at both ends of the court during the regular season, Edey was a near-unanimous choice as the Associated Press men’s college basketball Player of the Year. Edey earned all but one vote from a 58-person media panel, with Indiana Hoosiers Trayce Jackson-Davis getting the other.
“The season ended in disappointment, which really sucks, but it’s always nice to win individual accolades,” Edey said. “It kind of validates your work a little bit. The last three years I’ve played here, I’ve seen my game grow every year. AP Player of the Year is a great feeling, it just kind of stinks the way the season ended.”
That ending came in the NCAA tournament’s opening round, when Purdue lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, joining Virginia in 2018 as the only men’s No. 1 seeds to go down to a No. 16.
Before that, Edey dominated.
The 7-foot-4 Canadian was named a unanimous AP All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year after finishing sixth nationally in scoring (22.3), second in rebounding (12.8) and first in double-doubles (26).
Edey also shot 62% from the field and averaged 2.1 rejections per game while leading Purdue to its first outright Big Ten regular-season title since 2017. He is the first player since Navy’s David Robinson in 1985-86 to have at least 750 points, 450 rebounds and 50 blocked shots in a season.
“He’s kind of a one of a kind,” Purdue guard David Jenkins Jr. said. “I’ve never played with someone like him, probably never will again.”
And to think, Edey did not want to play basketball when he was younger.
A hockey and baseball player growing up in Toronto, Edey resisted basketball at first. He was 6-2 by the time he reached sixth grade, and the natural inclination by the adults in his life was to push him in the direction of basketball, where his size would be a massive advantage.
“It was something I kind of avoided all my life.,” Edey said. “I didn’t like people telling me what I should be doing with my life, and it felt like that’s what people were doing with basketball. When I started playing competitively, that’s when I really fell in love with the sport.”
Edey developed his game rapidly. He played at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and proved himself against some of the nation’s elite high school players, drawing attention from college coaches. He ended up at Purdue, where coach Matt Painter had a proven track record of developing big men.
Edey had a limited role as a freshman, then averaged 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds last season on a team that had talented big man Trevion Williams and future NBA lottery pick Jaden Ivey.
Already a tireless worker and a gym rat, Edey put in even more time during the offseason, spending extra time after practice and taking better care of his body. His already solid footwork improved, and he added quickness and developed more patience with the constant double-teams he faced, not to mention the barrage of physical play teams tried to use against him.
“There’s not really any kind of cool, sexy answer,” Edey said. “I came in every day, I worked hard, I stayed after practice — stayed a long time after practice. I took care of my body and was able to steadily improve. There was nothing revolutionary I did. I just worked hard.”
It certainly paid off, even if the season ended with a huge disappointment.
