Purdue’s Zach Edey makes strong case to be player of year
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Brian Nash vividly remembers the first impression Zach Edey made at IMG Academy.
The school’s coaches were fascinated with the basketball newcomer’s size, his potential. They liked his hands, the footwork he developed playing other sports. They thought he could be college basketball’s next big thing.
Five years later, the transformation seems almost complete — to the surprise of Nash, IMG’s director of basketball operations. Edey, the 7-foot-4, 305-pound Canadian, is compiling numbers that show America’s biggest player might also be its best player.
“He’s the most dominant player in the country and I would have never thought that would happen this quickly,” said Nash, who spent more than 20 seasons coaching at the college level after playing at Kansas State. “We looked at him as a piece of clay.”
This more polished version of Edey creates the same wonder among fans he did with in Bradenton, Florida. He towers over almost anyone, his elbows reaching most players’ necks thanks to a standing reach of 9 feet, 9 inches.
No. 5 Purdue eagerly exploits its advantage in the post when teams dare to single-cover Edey, and Edey gladly passes the ball when extra defenders converge. At times, the Boilermakers seem content taking shots and letting Edey score on putbacks.
“It’s amazing to see,” said David Jenkins Jr., Purdue’s sixth-year guard. “He’s kind of a one of a kind. I’ve never played with someone like him, probably never will again.”
It hasn’t always been this way for the Toronto native, who started his athletic career playing hockey and later added baseball. By 14, he’d given up both sports.
His desire to earn a college scholarship to help his mother, Julia, eventually led him to his most natural sport and eventually to AAU basketball and IMG. (His mother is a former basketball player.)
Coaches put the 16-year-old on a second-tier team for one year, primarily so he could refine his skills and learn to cope with the frustration of smaller players pestering him.