Zach Edey (; born May 14, 2002) is a Canadian

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He is listed at , making him the tallest player in Big Ten history. At the close of the 2023 season, Edey was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and consensus National Player of the Year. Edey also represented

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at the

2021 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The 2021 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (Latvian: 2021. gada FIBA Pasaules kauss basketbolā līdz 19 gadu vecumam) was the 15th edition of the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship ...

in Latvia.

Early life and high school career

Zach Edey was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

on May 14, 2002, to Julia and Glen Edey. His mother was born to Chinese immigrants in Toronto, where she grew up and played basketball; his father is white. Edey grew up playing

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

as well as

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, which his father also played growing up. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

Leaside High School Leaside High School (LHS) is a school of between 900 and 1000 pupils in central-east Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the corner of Eglinton and Bayview Avenues. The school was established in 1945 by the Leaside Board of Education and is located in ...

in Toronto, Edey started playing basketball with the Northern Kings

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

program. He only committed to the game when his exceptional height made baseball impractical, as his strike zone impacted his ability to play. Edey moved to the United States and attended

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

. He joined their second-tier team in his first year, working daily with IMG coach and former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) player

Daniel Santiago Daniel Gregg Santiago (born June 24, 1976) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. A center, he had a collegiate career in the NCAA and NAIA. His professional career saw him play in the NBA, the Baloncesto Superior Nacional of ...

. Edey was promoted to the school's national team the following year. A consensus three-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

, he

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, ''The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November 2014 by Def ...

to the 2020 class and committed to playing college basketball for

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

over offers from Baylor and Santa Clara, among others.

College career

Freshman season

In his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

season at Purdue, Edey was listed at , making him the tallest player in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

history. On March 2, 2021, he recorded a season-high 21 points and seven

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

off the bench in a 73–69 win over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Sharing playing time with fellow center

Trevion Williams Trevion Williams (born September 16, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. Williams played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball, Purdue Boilermakers of the Bi ...

, he averaged 8.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14 minutes per game, earning Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors.

Sophomore season

To begin his sophomore year, Edey moved into a starting role. On January 3, 2022, he recorded a then-career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes in a 74–69 loss to Wisconsin. On February 26, 2022, Edey recorded a career-high 25 points in 22 minutes in a 68–65 loss to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. As a sophomore, he averaged career highs in every category except free throw percentage, averaging 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.2 blocks in only 19 minutes per game. Following the conclusion of the season, Edey was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten.

Junior season

On December 17, 2022, Edey became both the 55th player in Purdue's history to reach 1,000 career points and the 11th player in Purdue's history to reach 100 career blocks. During the 2022-23 season, Edey received Big Ten Player of the Week six times, tying the school record for most awards in a single season (

Caleb Swanigan Caleb Sylvester Swanigan (April 18, 1997 – June 20, 2022) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers. He was ranked among the top prep ...

, 2016-17) and rising to second most all-time in men's basketball in the Big Ten (

Evan Turner Evan Marcel Turner (born October 27, 1988) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He was most recently an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted second overall ...

, 2010-11). At the close of the season, Edey was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and ''Sporting News'' National Player of the Year. He was also named a consensus first-team All-American.

National team career

Edey represented

at the

in Latvia. He averaged 15.1 points, a tournament-high 14.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, leading his team to the bronze medal and being named to the all-tournament team. On May 24, 2022, Edey agreed to a three-year commitment to play with the Canadian senior men's national team.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 2 , , 14.7 , , .597 , , – , , .714 , , 4.4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 1.1 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 33 , , 19.0 , , .648 , , – , , .649 , , 7.7 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 1.2 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 34 , , 31.7 , , .607 , , – , , .734 , , 12.9 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 2.1 , , 22.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 98 , , 68 , , 22.0 , , .619 , , – , , .702 , , 8.3 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 1.5 , , 15.4

References

External links

Purdue Boilermakers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edey, Zach 2002 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Toronto Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Canadian people of Chinese descent Centers (basketball) IMG Academy alumni Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players