Purdue’s Zach Edey is The Associated Press Player of the Year in men’s college basketball, becoming the first back-to-back winner since Ralph Sampson at Virginia in the 1980s.
— The child who wanted Zach Edey’s autograph during his Purdue recruiting trip apparently saw something others missed.
Big Maple was destined to be a basketball star.
While many college coaches passed on the unpolished Canadian prospect as the basketball world became enamored with perimeter play and 3-point shooting, Purdue coach Matt Painter took a swing on his third center in the recruiting class and found a gem who has led the Boilermakers to their first Final Four since 1980.
On Friday, Edey collected his second Associated Press Player of the Year award, becoming the first back-to-back winner since Ralph Sampson won three in a row at Virginia from 1981 to ’83. Edey received 57 of 62 votes from journalists who vote in the weekly AP Top 25. Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht received three votes and Houston’s Jamal Shead got two.
Edey is the fifth player to win the award in consecutive seasons, though Lew Alcindor also won the award twice in nonconsecutive seasons.
“I get to pay [coach Matt Painter] back. There were so many coaches that looked over me, like you could — name a program — I could name a coach that looked over me,” Edey said. “Tennessee, Rick Barnes is a great coach, but he was at our practice, looked over me. It’s kind of been the story of my life. People have doubted me. People looked past me. Can’t do that anymore.”
A dedicated work ethic and a fiery, steely-eyed determination has turned he 7-foot-4, 300-pound Edey from intriguing project into college basketball’s biggest star.
