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Zach Edey Will Return to Purdue

Zach Edey has announced he will withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return to Purdue for his senior season.

The last time Zach Edey walked off the court wearing a Purdue jersey, he was on the wrong side of history as just the second ever #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed. Since that moment, it was unclear if Edey would ever suit up for Purdue again.

West Lafayette will have something to cheer for today, after a long two months of waiting, Zach Edey has made the decision on the final day to return to Purdue for his senior season and Edey will get a chance to write his final chapter.

Edey's historic rise last season turned a rebuilding Purdue team into Big Ten Champions and the #1 ranking for 7 weeks during the year. Their season earned them a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Matt Painter after winning the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.

Zach Edey returning to Purdue shifts the landscape of college basketball heavily towards West Lafayette. Edey swept the National Player of the Year awards after averaging over 20 points and 12 rebounds a game in more than 30 minutes of action a game.

But his historic dominance inside might have struggled to translate to a perimeter-oriented NBA, and Edey admitted early on in this process that he was willing to return to Purdue. With his Visa situation hopefully resolved this summer, Edey should be able to more easily monetize being the face of Purdue, the Big Ten, and college basketball as the returning Player of the Year.

His return makes Purdue favorites to repeat in the Big Ten and most likely a top-5 team in the first polls of the season and a favorite for the Final Four. Something Purdue has still not reached with Matt Painter.

Returning the best player in college basketball is a good start for a Purdue team that will look to follow a similar path to Virginia who went from an upset #1 seed to National Champions the next season.

Zach Edey Career Stats
Season MPG PPG RPG APG BPG 

2020-2021

14.7

8.7

4.4

0.4

1.1

2021-22

19.0

14.4

7.7

1.2

1.2

2022-23

31.7

22.3

12.9

1.5

2.1

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Zach Edey's junior season was historic in terms of efficiency for the Purdue big man. While his style might appear to be a thing of the past with the NBA, there's never been a big man that's dominated college basketball in the way he has.

Edey's 40.2 player efficiency led the country last year and his career 38.3 rating is the highest in the history of the NCAA since they've recorded that advanced stat. He also leads in Win Shares per 40 minutes in NCAA history, Offensive Box Plus/Minus, and offensive rebounding percentage.

While Edey's style of play might be out of fashion in the NBA, there's little argument that he's excelled at what he does do and has shown an incredible amount of improvement in just his three years at Purdue.

His minutes and role has expanded each season, culminating his a junior campaign that saw him play as many minutes as his Coach Matt Painter needed of him. Despite being 7-4, and 300 lbs., Edey averaged over 31 minutes a game after averaging less than 20 minutes a game and splitting time evenly with Trevion Williams the last two seasons.

Rebounding, something that Edey did better than just about anyone in the history of college basketball, is usually a skill that translates well to the NBA. Edey grabbed a quarter of Purdue's misses when he was on the court. Against Minnesota in his junior year, Edey out rebounded the entire Golden Gopher team on his own. He has the 6th highest rebounding rate in the NCAA's since they started recording that stat.

During the season, Edey had some early tests against some of colleges best big men and he outplayed all of them including Drew Timme in Portland as part of the Phil Knight Invitational.

But at the NBA level there were still questions about his ability to defend in space, and against the pick and roll. Enough questions that Edey did not receive enough assurances in role or contract to stay in the NBA draft. He will return to Purdue for a fourth season.

The 2024 draft looks notably weaker than the 2023 and Edey's shown an incredible ability to add to his game each season. It's possible the 7-3 Canadian can help his stock with another dominant collegiate season.

Purdue Projected Starting Lineup
Year PPG RPG APG

Braden Smith

Sophomore

9.7

4.2

4.4

Fletcher Loyer

Sophomore

11.0

1.7

2.4

Myles Colvin

Freshman

-

-

-

Mason Gillis

(RS) Senior

6.8

3.8

1.3

Zach Edey

Senior

22.3

12.9

1.5

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