The back-to-back reigning faculty basketball participant of the yr has a house within the NBA.
Zach Edey was chosen with the ninth total decide within the NBA Draft on Wednesday evening by the Memphis Grizzlies.
In these two seasons with the Boilermakers (73 video games), Edey averaged 23.8 factors and 12.5 rebounds.
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Purdue heart Zach Edey practices forward of a Remaining 4 faculty basketball recreation within the NCAA Match, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. North Carolina State performs Purdue. (AP Picture/Brynn Anderson)
His Boilermakers had been upset by No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson in final yr’s March Insanity, however this yr, they made all of it the best way to the ultimate earlier than shedding to now back-to-back champion UConn.
Everybody knew Edey was a standout, nevertheless it was this previous match the place he cemented his legacy within the faculty rankings.
In his six video games in March Insanity, he averaged 29.5 factors and 14.5 rebounds, together with a 40-16 line within the Elite 8, and a 37-point effort within the championship. Edey wound up scoring nearly two-thirds of the Boilermakers’ factors in opposition to UConn.
Zach Edey #15 of the Purdue Boilermakers walks throughout the courtroom within the second half in opposition to the Connecticut Huskies in the course of the NCAA Males’s Basketball Match Nationwide Championship recreation at State Farm Stadium on April 08, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Jamie Squire/Getty Photos)
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Many thought Edey would fall out of the lottery, however they may use an enormous man down low to pair with Jared Jackson Jr., who averaged 22.5 factors per recreation.
It was a tricky season for Memphis. Ja Morant served a 25-game suspension resulting from off-the-court points, and when he returned, he dominated and had a buzzer-beater in his first recreation again.
Nevertheless, after only a handful of video games, he suffered a season-ending harm, thus all however ending the Grizzlies season within the course of. Memphies went 27-55 only a yr after making the playoffs as a No. 2 seed.
Purdue heart Zach Edey holds an NCAA Regional Championship trophy after an Elite Eight faculty basketball recreation in opposition to Tennessee within the NCAA Match, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Picture/Paul Sancya)
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However, with a wholesome Morant, an improved Desmond Bane, one other season from Jackson, and now Edey within the flesh, it should not shock anybody if this workforce makes one other playoff run.
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