Nick Nurse Praises Canadian Center Zach Edey

Raptors and Canada Basketball coach Nick Nurse had high praise for Purdue center Zach Edey who will play for the senior men's national team

Nick Nurse has already seen enough of Zach Edey to know the 7-foot-4 Canadian center is a "problem" for opposing teams.

Edey might not be a typical Toronto Raptors-style big man right now, but the Purdue center is certainly a player Nurse has been eyeing for the Canadian Senior Men's National Team.

"He was a pretty big priority," Nurse said. "Every now and then you run into one of these international teams that'll just run three, one 7-footer after one 7-footer, or just rotate three of them the whole game and use the rim protection and physicality and those kinds of things. And we just thought that every time we see Zach he's a problem for, well, when we're scrimmaging against him he's a problem for us on the floor and practices and things, and he's a problem for other teams."

Edey averaged 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore for the Boilermakers this past season while shooting 64.8% from the floor. 

"I've already been to watch him workout stuff this summer and he looks great, man. He really physically looks amazing and whatever they're at Purdue to get his body right, his body is right," Nurse added. "His legs are strong and lean and his upper body is lean and he looks really good."

The Leaside native did not enter his name into draft consideration this year, though he could be a player to watch in next year's NBA draft class.

Further Reading

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