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.
Pat McAfee shares what he loves about Zach Edey's game after Purdue's victory over Tennessee in the Elite Eight. 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 led the Boilermakers to their first Final Four since 1980.
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. He heads into Saturday's matchup against North Carolina State averaging 25.0 points and 12.2 rebounds for a second straight double-double. He also had 2.2 blocks while shooting 62.2% from the field this season, virtually willing the Boilermakers past Tennessee 72-66 in the regional final with a career-high 40 points and 16 rebounds after last March's shocking first-round loss to 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.
"Zach and I were standing in the tunnel and we said, 'That kid just got a signature from a nobody,'" Julia Edey recounted, drawing laughter from Edey, his parents and Purdue's sellout crowd on Senior Day.He broke Rick Mount's 54-year-old school scoring record and now has surpassed 2,400 points. He broke Joe Barry Carroll's 44-year-old career rebounding mark.
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