Big Ten Roundup: Zach Edey Returns; Others Announce NBA Draft Stay-Or-Go Decisions
The National Player of the Year is back.
On Wednesday, amid a slew of NBA Draft stay-or-go announcements, a decision from Purdue's 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey was perhaps the most important. It wasn't a huge surprise to see Edey withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to Purdue, as most tabbed him as a second-round pick, but it was an impactful decision, regardless.
Coach Matt Painter would have had a solid squad without Edey, bringing back nearly everyone from last year's No. 1 seed and Big Ten champion team, but Edey's return immediately raises Purdue's ceiling to a Big Ten and national contender in 2023-24.
Averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks on 60.7 percent shooting, Edey dominated every opponent in sight during a regular season that saw Purdue ranked No. 1 in the country for seven weeks. The Boilermakers' season came to a heartbreaking end in the NCAA Tournament, where they were upset by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. It was just the second time in men's college basketball history that a No. 16 seed took down a No. 1 seed, and it added to Purdue's recent failures in March, losing to a No. 14, No. 15 and No. 16 seed in three consecutive seasons.
Edey and company will be hungry to avenge those early exits, and it will be largely the same group attempting to do so. Purdue returns Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Mason Gillis, Ethan Morton, Caleb Furst, Trey Kaufman-Renn from last year's 29-6 team, while losing David Jenkins Jr. to graduation and Brandon Newman to Western Kentucky.
Painter brings in just one high school recruit, Myles Colvin, a 6-foot-5 small forward ranked No. 96 in the nation. And after taking a redshirt year in 2022-23, former four-star recruit Cam Heide, a 6-foot-5 small forward, and William Berg, 7-foot-2 center from Sweden, could be in the mix for playing time. Purdue added one transfer, Lance Jones, a 6-foot-1 guard who averaged 13.8 points at Southern Illinois last season. Altogether, Purdue is widely considered a top-five preseason team.
Michigan State, Illinois get veterans back
Along with Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois were big winners from Wednesday's NBA Draft withdrawal deadline.
Coach Tom Izzo's squad received a major boost with starters A.J. Hoggard and Jaden Akins returning for their senior and junior seasons, respectively. Hoggard averaged 12.9 points and 5.9 assists last year, while Akins added 9.8 points per game on 42.2 percent 3-point shooting. They'll complete a trio with senior guard Tyson Walker – Michigan State's leading scorer last year – that has a case to be one of the nation's best back courts.
Michigan State lost its second-leading scorer, Joey Hauser, but brings in the nation's No. 4 recruiting class, headlined by five-star Xavier Booker and a trio of four-star prospects.
Another pair of Big Ten veterans decided to run it back on Wednesday, when Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins announced their return to Champaign. Shannon was a first-team All-Big Ten guard last season, averaging 17.2 points. Hawkins, a 6-foot-10 forward, took a big step forward as a junior in 2022-23, nearly doubling his scoring output with increased minutes.
With Shannon and Hawkins back, coach Brad Underwood returning core also includes Sencire Harris, Ty Rodgers, Luke Goode and Dain Dainja. The Illini lost Jayden Epps and RJ Melendez to the transfer portal and Matthew Mayer to graduation, but replace them with a trio of transfers and two four-star freshmen.
Here's the full list of Big Ten players that made NBA Draft stay-or-go decisions on Wednesday:
- Jaden Akins: Returning to Michigan State
- Chase Audige: Leaving Northwestern for NBA Draft
- Zach Edey: Returning to Purdue
- Coleman Hawkins: Returning to Illinois
- AJ Hoggard: Returning to Michigan State
- Paul Mulcahy: No decision announced
- Cliff Omoruyi: Returning to Rutgers
- Terrence Shannon Jr.: Returning to Illinois
- Keisei Tominaga: Returning to Nebraska
