College Prospect Spotlight: Purdue’s Zach Edey

While there's no clear favorite to win it all this season, theres a handful of teams that have emerged in a tier of their own. Especially at the college level, it takes a special player for the top teams to ensure consistency throughout the season. Often times, centers can dominate games and single-handedly make sure their team is able to compete with whatever team they match up against.

There's always a handful of college players who don't get as much national attention as they deserve, but are incredible players that could make an impact at the next level.

For this week’s spotlight, we take a look at Purdue center Zach Edey, who has legitimate NBA talent.

Zach Edey (Center | Purdue Boilermakers)

7'4” | 290 lbs

Season Stats: 22.6 PPG | 13.9 RPG | 65% FG

Notable Accolades

Edey is a dominant big that knows how to use his size to his advantage. He's currently averaging a double-double, including nearly 23 points per contest. Even after losing Jaden Ivey to the 2022 NBA Draft, the 7-foot-4 center has kept the Boilermakers relevant this season as they hold the No. 1 spot in the rankings.

One of the most dominant offensive rebounders in the country, Edey generates 5.5 boards per game on that end. This has resulted in a ton of second chance points for Purdue, which has been key in their success. He even has a 25% rebound rate on the season, meaning he pulls down a quarter of the possible boards when he's on the floor.

Edey has great touch, converting on almost 65% of his shots from the floor this season. He doesn't have much range, but it hasn't been needed at this level with how much he can do in the paint. Through the first several weeks of the season, he's already notched a 30-point, 20-rebound game which is a remarkable accomplishment for the junior.

Defensively, he's limited due to his lack of quickness, but has also notched a contest this season with seven blocks. Edey has made up for the limited mobility with his size in protecting the rim.

Looking at Edey's game holistically, he's notched an incredible 11.9 C-Ram according to Cerebro Sports, which is one of the best in the country. This includes a 98 ATR, 96 PSP and 90 DSI. He's certainly well-rounded, but it will all come down to his fit at the NBA level.

NBA Upside

When evaluating Edey as an NBA prospect, the size is the obvious advantage. He'd immediately be one of the tallest and heaviest players in the league, which are both an advantage with how well he uses his physical tools.

While many bigs struggle from the line, Edey has converted on over 70% of his free throws this season. He doesn't project to be a center that plays a ton of minutes in the NBA, but that's an underrated skill that could allow him to play in more situations late in games in certain matchups.

At the surface, you'd think the 7-foot-4 prospect doesn't have much more room to improve, but that's not the case. He's only been playing basketball for a few years now, meaning he could just be scratching the surface of his potential. Edey didn't begin playing basketball until the second half of his high school years, as he focused on hockey and baseball growing up. Just look at his numbers year-over-year throughout his college career and it's easy to see why there's no need to cap his ceiling just yet.

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