After shocking loss, Edey faces decision on return to Purdue
What was supposed to be the first step toward a possible coronation for the nation's top player instead might have been his swan song.
For 34 games, Purdue's Zach Edey was the class of college basketball. The Big Ten's player of the year on the team that won the regular-season title outright and also captured the conference tournament title en route to a No. 1 seed, the 7-foot-4, 305-pound Edey was the biggest story on what was supposed to be the league's most dominant team.
Instead, Edey found himself being asked one of the most difficult questions shortly after Friday's game against No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson concluded: Was this the end of his college career?
This wasn't how the day was supposed to go for Edey, for his teammates or for the class of the Big Ten. And yet, here they were.
“I have no opinion on that,” Edey, a front-runner for every national player of the year award, said when asked if he'll be back for a fourth season. “I'll make my decision going forward.”
It was that kind of evening for the Boilermakers, who took a 63-58 loss to become the second No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It put them in the same unhappy company as Virginia, which lost to Maryland Baltimore County in 2018 to forever become the answer to a trivia question no team wants to be associated with.
Those Cavaliers responded by winning the national championship the next season. What will happen with these Boilermakers is impossible to predict right now, especially when their only reliable player is both an anomaly in the game and possibly ready to be done with college.
“He's a level-headed guy,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “He'll take the information in and make a decision and do what's best for him. So he's not somebody that − he's pretty simple in things. But it's not me. His parents are great. The people around him are great. He's a good dude. It's too bad. He deserves better than this. He deserves better.”
Edey was 7 for 11 from the floor and finished with a game-high 21 points with two turnovers. His teammates were a combined 12 for 42 (28.6%) from the floor with 14 turnovers.
Jones experiences central Ohio homecoming
A moment he'd waited his whole life to experience happened with 13:46 left in an opening-round NCAA Tournament game on a Friday in his hometown.
With No. 2 seed Marquette leading No. 15 seed Vermont 11-8, Gahanna native and Golden Eagles freshman guard Sean Jones was announced as he checked into the game for the first time in what would be a comfortable 78-61 win. It was a bucket list-type of moment, but in an upbeat postgame locker room he said it didn't sound that much different than what he's accustomed to.
“I heard it,” he said. “It felt like the same check-in I've been getting all year. It was great that I was able to get one in Columbus, Ohio.”
Jones recorded an assist in his first minute of playing time, and in 15 minutes on the court he finished with 2 points, one rebound and one assist. His points came on a drive with 1:21 remaining.
“It felt like a normal score, to be honest, but it was fun,” he said. “(I was) sitting on zero for a minute but making good plays, so to get a bucket at Nationwide was fun.”