Zach Edey, a second-team All-Big Ten center, will return to Purdue for his junior season, the school announced Friday, ending speculation that the 7-foot-4 talent would enter the NBA draft.
Edey averaged 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for a Purdue squad that finished second in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom data, but lost to Saint Peter’s in the Sweet 16.
Edey, an Associated Press All-American honorable mention, joins a growing list of potential national player of the year candidates for the 2022-23 season that includes Kentucky‘s Oscar Tshiebwe, who will attempt to become the first two-time Wooden Award winner since Ralph Sampson in the early 1980s, and North Carolina star Armando Bacot.
With Edey on the floor last season, Purdue averaged 117 points per 100 possessions and made 57% of its shots inside the arc and 40% of its 3-point attempts, according to hooplens.com data. But those Boilermakers also had Jaden Ivey, a projected lottery pick in this summer’s NBA draft, and Trevion Williams, who averaged 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Edey will be the leader of a team that lost multiple key players. Still, the Boilermakers are ranked 23rd in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 and are expected to contend in the Big Ten.