Zach Edey Wins 2023 Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year
Zach Edey keeps adding to his trophy case.
After dominating college basketball last year and sweeping the National Player of the Year Awards, Purdue's Zach Edey will add the Big Ten's most prestigious male athlete award to his trophy case.
Purdue has announced Zach Edey has won the 2023 Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Award.
Edey's junior season was an all-time performance from Purdue's 7-4 center. Edey averaged 22.3 points a game and 12.9 rebounds. Both marks led the Big Ten while he also led the conference in field goal percentage and made field goals while leading the nation in win shares and player efficiency rating.
Edey led a Purdue team expected to finish in the middle of the Big Ten to a Big Ten and Big Ten Tournament Championship.
Purdue was ranked #1 for 7 weeks during the season. Zach Edey was college basketballs best basketball player in 2023 and decided to forego the NBA to return to Purdue to play his season for Matt Painter and Purdue.
Edey joins historic company both at Purdue and in the Big Ten Conference. He is just the third Boilermaker to win this award, joining Purdue diver and Olympic medalist David Boudia in 2011 and former #1 pick Glenn 'Big Dog' Robinson in 1994.
Last year's winner was two-time National Champion in wrestling at Minnesota, Gable Stevenson.
2021 was the last year a basketball player won the award when Luke Garza out of Iowa took the honor.
Zach Edey has a chance to be the only basketball player to win the award twice. Kyle Snyder, an Ohio State wrestler, is the only male to win the award two years in a row. He did that in 2017 and the following year in 2018.
Other notable Boilermakers to win the award on the female side, Joy Holmes and MaChelle Joseph in back to back years in the early 90's for the women's basketball team, Stephanie White-McCarty in 1999, Katie Douglas in 2001, Maria Hernandez for Purdue women's golf in 2009, and Dani Bunch in track and field in 2014.
Zach Edey will head into 2023-24 as the favorite to repeat as basketball's best player and the Big Ten's best male athlete. He will spend his summer with Team Canada before returning to West Lafayette for his fourth and final season at Purdue.