Edey voted ap player of year again
Purdue center Zach Edey on Friday collected his second Associated Press Player of the Year award, becoming the first back-toback winner since Ralph Sampson won three in a row at Virginia in 1981-83.
The 7-4, 300-pound Edey received 57 of 62 votes from journalists who vote in the weekly AP Top 25. Tennessee forward Dalton Knecht received three votes and Houston guard Jamal Shead two.
Edey is the fifth player to win the award in consecutive seasons, though UCLA’s Lew Alcindor also won the award twice in nonconsecutive seasons.
‘‘I get to pay [Boilermakers coach Matt Painter] back,’’ Edey said. ‘‘There were so many coaches that looked over me . . . . Name a program, I could name a coach that looked over me. Tennessee, Rick Barnes is a great coach, but he was at our practice, looked over me. It’s kind of been the story of my life. People have doubted me. People looked past me. Can’t do that anymore.’’
A dedicated work ethic and a fiery, steelyeyed determination has turned Edey from an intriguing project into the biggest star in men’s college basketball.
The truth is Painter, who routinely builds his team around big men, almost missed, too. His first two choices in that recruiting class were Hunter Dickinson, who chose Michigan, and Ryan Kalkbrenner, who wound up at Creighton. Dickinson became an AllAmerican with the Wolverines and again at Kansas, and Kalkbrenner was a two-time AllBig East selection.
But Edey outplayed them all, becoming the first national scoring leader to take his team to the Final Four since Oscar Robertson in 1960. He heads into Purdue’s matchup Saturday against North Carolina State in the national semifinals averaging 25 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks while shooting 62.2% from the field.
bronny declares for draft, enters portal
Bronny James will enter the NBA Draft after one season at USC that was shortened by his recovery from cardiac arrest.
James, the 19-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James, said on Instagram that he also plans to retain his college eligibility and will enter the transfer portal.
‘‘I’ve had a year with some ups and downs but all added to growth for me as a man, student and athlete,’’ James wrote.
James averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 25 games for the Trojans. He shot 37% from the field, 27% from three-point range and 68% from the free-throw line.
James, a 6-4 combo guard, didn’t make his college debut until Dec. 10 after he suffered cardiac arrest July 20 during a workout. He was found to have a congenital heart defect that was treatable.
sampson voted ap coach of year
Houston’s Kelvin Sampson narrowly edged UConn’s Dan Hurley for his second AP Coach of the Year award. He also won in 1995 with Oklahoma.
Sampson received 23 of 62 votes from the national panel that votes for the weekly AP Top 25. Hurley, whose top-seeded Huskies will play Alabama in the Final Four on Saturday, finished second with 21 votes.
‘‘He coaches 40 minutes of a 40-minute game,’’ Cougars guard Jamal Shead said. ‘‘I think that’s what makes us good.’’