The Associated Press named Purdue center Zach Edey as Player of Year for the second consecutive time. This makes him the first back-to-back recipient since Ralph Sampson, a towering 7-foot player from Virginia, clinched the title three years consecutively during the early 1980s.
Edey, who is the fifth athlete to secure this accolade in back-to-back seasons, is currently in Glendale, Arizona, vying for a different prize – the national championship of college basketball, with the Final Four set to kick off on Saturday.
Purdue, holding the No. 1 seed, is slated to compete against North Carolina State, the No. 11 seed, in the upcoming semifinals.
Throughout the NCAA Tournament, Edey has been maintaining an average of 30 points per game, a noteworthy performance that included a remarkable 40-point game coupled with 16 rebounds. This extraordinary display secured Purdue’s spot in the Final Four following a 72-66 victory over Tennessee.
Previous seasons were marked by disappointing early losses for Purdue and Edey. The team faced disheartening upsets at the hands of Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023 and Saint Peter’s in 2022 before this year’s breakthrough, marking their return to the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
“When you’re trying to separate yourself, you’re really getting into trivial things that don’t matter, but they do matter if you follow somebody and follow sports,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
“What separates greatness is winning, ultimately. The people that win more. The people that have more success when you look back.”
Edey, who was previously recognized as the National Player of the Year in 2023, chose to forego the draft process and announced his return for the 2023-24 season through social media with the simple phrase: Run it back.
A testament to his dedication, Edey focused on conditioning and expanding his shooting range, leading him to top the nation in scoring with an average of 25 points and 12.2 rebounds this season. Purdue recently retired his No. 15 jersey at Mackey Arena alongside legends such as Glenn Robinson and John Wooden.
In the upcoming game against NC State, head coach Kevin Keatts openly expressed concerns about containing the dominant 7-4, 320-pound player, Zach Edey.
“If you ask me who keeps you up at night right now, it’s Zach Edey,” Keatts said. “He’s playing at a high level. He can score the ball. We got to get him out of that lane. He lives in that lane. He’s really talented. The way he’s become a lot better is he passes the ball a lot.”
Enhancing his passing skills, Edey contributed significantly to Purdue’s success, reflected in their remarkable 40.61% 3-point shooting percentage, a stark improvement from their previous season ranking in the 300s.
This strategic play by the Boilermakers creates a challenging defensive scenario for their opponents, noted by Gonzaga coach Mark Few.
“When those guards shoot it like that, it’s pick your poison,” Few said after losing to Purdue in the regional semifinals last week. “It was — they shot it great from three, and then in the second half, we, I think, shut down that area pretty good.”
“Then Edey was just a load. It’s a nice entity to have, just pitch it into him. If you play him one-on-one, he’s either going to get fouled or score.”
