Purdue center Zach Edey was the leading scorer in this year’s national championship game and has seemingly been dominating teams since he started playing college basketball.
The 6-foot-2 big man is on pace to become one of the tallest players in the NBA, ranking 10th in league history.
He has the talent to make it happen. Edey won the national college player of the year award twice and was the only non-UConn player named to the Final Four all-tournament team after the Boilermakers lost to the Huskies in the national championship game.
But Edey bravely fought for all 37 points that Monday night in April and now he waits to see which NBA team decides to take a chance on him.
While Edey waits to find out what his name will be called, DailyMail.com takes a look at his development and his college career ahead of Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
Zach Edey is a two-time national player of the year and is waiting for his name to be called in the draft
Edey was a dominant force for Purdue all season and fell just short in the title game
Edey grew up in Canada and played numerous sports, including baseball and ice hockey.
Edey once told me Lafayette Journal and Courier that his introduction to baseball was almost a complete accident.
“My parents took me to a random field one day and I thought we were having a picnic or something,” Edey recalled.
“All of a sudden it was, ‘There’s a baseball tryout.’ You should go there.”
Edey intimidated other baseball players by being a foot taller than other players, especially because he dominated both pitching and batting.
“From a shorter mound, it was so intimidating to step into the batter’s box,” teammate Sam Brown said. “He was so much stronger and threw harder than anyone.”
His coach Eric Stickney told MLB.com, “It was definitely a safety issue when he played. You’d really worry about the safety of the other team’s pitcher if he could get his hands on one and hit a line drive.”
Growing up, Edey was a strong baseball player before switching to basketball
His success in the paint should be intriguing to several NBA teams on draft night
But despite Edey’s prowess on the mound, basketball appealed to him and he took up the sport in high school.
Edey admitted that becoming a professional baseball player was “something I really wanted growing up. Something I dreamed of.’ But he admitted: ‘I’ve outgrown the sport a bit. My shoulder gave out a little. It wasn’t so realistic anymore.’
He went from one of the best baseball players in Canada to a top basketball talent in high school – even moving to the United States at the prestigious IMG Academy in Florida.
His talent in high school earned him a scholarship to Purdue’s top college basketball program, where he excelled.
When he took the field his freshman year, he became the tallest player in Big Ten Conference history and was a member of their freshman team.
His junior and senior years were especially notable, as he earned first-team All-American honors and won the National College Player of the Year award twice.
Edey even led Purdue to its first Final Four appearance since 1980 and its first national title game since 1969 – where they lost to UConn.
Now he’s taking his massive frame to the NBA, where he hopes to become a dominant paint presence for years to come.