Toronto’s Zach Edey named AP NCAA men’s basketball player of the year
7-foot-4 Purdue centre had ‘one of the most dominating’ seasons in U.S. college basketball history, at both ends of the court
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Toronto’s Zach Edey was named Associated Press’ player of the year Friday in NCAA men’s basketball.
The gargantuan centre for the Purdue University Boilermakers was a near unanimous choice, garnering 57 of 58 votes from a media panel.
Power forward Trayce Jackson-Davis of Purdue’s cross-state arch-rival, Indiana University, got the other vote.
“The season ended in disappointment, which really sucks,” Edey told the AP, “but it’s always nice to win individual accolades.
“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. (Winning) AP player of the year is a great feeling.”
The 20-year-old Canadian stands 7-foot-4 and — unlike most basketball players of that rare height — packs muscle, too. He is listed at 295 pounds.
Edey was born in Toronto to a tall Chinese immigrant mother (6-foot-3) and a white father. He called Leaside (a neighbourhood south of Eglinton between Mt. Pleasant and Bayview) home until his last two years of high school, which he spent at the famous IMG Academy for star athletes in Bradenton, Fla.
He played hockey and baseball in Leaside, but because he already was up to 6-foot-2 by Grade 6, basketball became his natural sport of concentration.
He entered Purdue two seasons ago, in 2020-21, as the tallest player in the history of the Big Ten league. He rose to starter a year ago and, in addition to being a natural rebounding and shot-blocking machine, he averaged 14.4 points per game.
This season he became a superstar, at both ends of the court. Edey was named Big Ten player of the week six times in leading the Boilermakers (located in Northwest Indiana) to both the Big Ten regular-season and post-season tournament championships, as they finished 19-5 on the season.
Edey finished sixth in the NCAA in scoring (22.3 points per game), second in rebounds (12.8) and led in double-doubles (26). According to the Associated Press, Edey is the first NCAA player since future NBA superstar David Robinson of Navy in 1985-86 to have at least 750 points, 450 rebounds and 50 blocked shots in a season.
Edey was named the Big Ten tourney’s MVP and additionally earned consensus first-team all-American recognition, plus numerous other national player-of-the-year honours.
The Boilermakers two weeks ago were ousted in the first round of the current NCAA tournament, in one of the most shocking upsets in the event’s history.
A No. 1 seed in the East Regional, Purdue lost to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, 63-58. Edey scored 21 points and had 15 rebounds, but barely touched the ball in the last 10 minutes as his teammates failed repeatedly to feed him the ball in the post, then couldn’t make up for his absent scoring.
Will he now turn pro? Surely there’s nothing more for him to establish as a collegian. But NBA scouts worry he’s too slow to be an effective pro starter, and some have give him a Round 2 draft grade. He’d be the tallest player in the NBA should he turn pro and make a team.
Edey has represented Canada internationally, most notably at the 2021 FIBA U19 world cup in Latvia, helping lead Canada to a bronze medal while being named to the all-tournament team. He is in his second year of a three-year commitment to play with the senior men’s Team Canada.
On Sunday, the 2022-23 winner of the most prestigious NCAA men’s player-of-the-year honour — the Naismith trophy — will be announced. Edey is a finalist along with Indiana’s Jackson-Davis, Gonzaga University’s Drew Timme and Kansas University’s Jalen Wilson.
The most recent Purdue player to win the award was future NBA star Glenn Robinson in 1994. A press release announcing Naismith trophy finalists called Edey’s 2022-23 season “one of the most dominating” in U.S. college basketball history.
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