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Published Mar 8, 2022
Purdue's sophomores' development loomed large over season
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Brian Neubert  •  BoilerUpload
GoldandBlack.com staff
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Heading into this season, Purdue was projected to be one of the better teams in college basketball based off an assumption, that being that sophomores Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey would make the jump from good to great during their second years of college basketball.

While both players' respective developments are on-going and things didn't always come easy for either player, Tuesday's postseason Big Ten honors serve as validation that those steps were made.

Ivey was named first-team All-Big Ten. All-America honors will soon follow.

Edey was named second-team all-conference during a year in which the first team was impenetrable and he was essentially part of a time share at his position.

A couple of common denominators among the two classmates: They're perhaps Purdue's two hardest-working players, and made that clear as soon as last season ended.

"Losing can help motivate you, especially during a long off-season like the one we had," Edey said.

Also, both benefited profoundly from their participation in the FIBA 19-and-Under Games In July, Ivey playing for Team USA and Edey for Canada. Those opportunities followed freshman seasons in which Purdue relied on both of them heavily right away.

Both of them became stars this season, and both will have decisions to make this spring regarding jumps to the professional ranks. In the meantime, they buoy the 25-6 and ninth-ranked Boilermakers heading into the postseason, first the Big Ten Tournament, then the NCAA Tournament.

For as much as Purdue has going for it from a personnel perspective — Trevion Williams, a strong array of shooters, etc. — it's Ivey and Edey who top every opponent's scouting report and will continue to do so now that the games matter most.

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For both players, there have been adjustments to be made on the fly.

For Ivey, one of the biggest stars in college basketball this year, those adjustments have been constant, as opponents have so often sold out to take away his strengths off the dribble, putting the onus on his decision-making.

"Things change with how people defend you and he's always in that adjustment mode of making that decision and sometimes he has pre-determined thoughts and that's how he gets in trouble," Coach Matt Painter said of Ivey, who wasn't available before practice Tuesday to discuss his first-team All-Big Ten honor. "When he doesn't have pre-determined thoughts and just takes what the defense gives him, he's proven he's a good decision-maker.

"He's shown he can make that adjustment and get us quality looks and really put the defense in a bind. That's where he's got to keep growing in that area."

That said, Ivey averaged 17-and-a-half points during Big Ten play, for a team that's as balanced offensively as any in college basketball. If Purdue didn't play through the post as much as it does, Ivey's numbers and his spacing on the floor might have been immensely different.

But Purdue does play through the post as much as anyone out there, and that's what positioned Edey for the success he's enjoyed.

Like Ivey, he encountered challenges himself, first in rising to a certain level of physicality when Big Ten started, then bearing the burden of being a team's centerpiece for the first time in his basketball career. For as much as he played last season, his sphere of influence at both ends of the floor was so much greater this season. His ability to score on the interior and defend against ball screens were critical for the Boilermakers this season.

"It's a lot more spotlight on me compared to last year," Edey said.

He very much delivered, averaging 14.1 points and 7.7 rebounds in just 20.1 minutes per game, also playing on a team with other high-volume avenues for scoring.

"I didn't add anything crazy to my game," Edey said of his jump from his freshman season. "If you look at my game last year and my game this year, it's very similar. I just built off what I did last year and tried to elevate everything."

And, then, the challenges that come with officiating.

Put any sort of recording device anywhere near Matt Painter and he'll jump on the chance to advocate for his 7-foot-4, 300-pound center.

"It was tough for him this year," Painter said, "but I think he did a much better job dealing with that. I don't think the referees made many strides in that area.

"I think he does a much better dealing with it than we do as coaches, because players come and go and if you can keep your job through the years, you get 17 years worth of watching the same things, and referees normally make adjustments on things they're missing and it just didn't happen this year for him for whatever reason."

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