Zach Edey decided to run it back; Now he, No. 3 Purdue, run into No. 1 Arizona

In a college basketball world of the not-too-distant past, maybe a decade or two ago, there’s almost no way Arizona would have to deal with Zach Edey on Saturday.

The 7-4 Canadian star would have likely left Purdue a year or two early, jumping into a lucrative NBA Draft that was friendlier to traditional big men or at least getting more money somewhere than he might in college, where NIL collectives didn’t exist.

Today, that equation has changed. In back-to-back years, the consensus national college player of the year has returned to school: Center Oscar Tshiebwe to Kentucky last season and Edey to Purdue this season.

Another prominent big man that UA coach Tommy Lloyd has worked with, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, returned for a fourth year as a Zag last season after already twice earning all-American honors.

Considering the NBA and NIL factors, maybe it was their best option. None of the three have been considered first-round NBA Draft picks — neither Tshwiebe nor Timme was taken when they ultimately left for the 2023 NBA Draft — and there’s no guarantee if or where Edey will land in the 2023 NBA Draft.

But Tshwiebe was lined up for a reported $2.75 million in NIL deals last season, while Timme’s personality and distinctive look helped him pick up several endorsements. According to On3, Timme had an NIL valuation of $630,000 while Edey’s is estimated at $810,000.

For the prominent big men, there’s money playing college basketball — and maybe not as much in the pros.

“It’s probably a combination of both” NBA thinking and NIL factors,” Lloyd said. “The NBA game has changed a little bit, the things they value seem to have changed a little bit and so maybe there’s not as many opportunities at that next level for those bigger guys.”

Edey went down to the wire last spring in the NBA Draft process, posting “RUN IT BACK” on his X (Twitter) page on May 31 before the NCAA’s deadline for players to withdraw from the draft.

In an interview posted last June by the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Edey said he decided chasing an NCAA title with what he called a “great group of guys” was more appealing than leaving to play a potentially small role in the NBA.

If Edey had made an NBA roster, he would have been in line to make at least the rookie minimum of $1.1 million and he’d make half of that if signed to a two-way contract between the NBA and G League, as many top players outside the first round do.

But Edey’s NIL valuation of $810,000 suggests he’s in the same ballpark at Purdue.

“It was tough in a way, but it was easy in a way,” Edey said of his decision. “I kind of took a step back and looked at it, like I want to do what makes me happy. I think that was kind of lost on me for a little bit in the decision-making. The money was going to be pretty similar so it was just really what I wanted to do.”

Staying at Purdue also allowed the chance for Edey to continue developing in a more familiar, stable environment than potentially bouncing around the pros. And, Edey said during an interview at Purdue on Thursday, development is still happening.

A native of Toronto, Edey concentrated on baseball and hockey and didn’t play organized basketball until his sophomore season of high school.

“People keep kind of telling me I can’t get better for some reason,” Edey said. “But I’m just kind of starting playing basketball. I’m getting better every year.”

Edey’s scoring basically doubled after each of his first two seasons at Purdue, reaching an average of 22.3 points last season, and this year he’s improved his shooting from 60.7% to 63.0% so far while averaging to 24.8 points.

He’s also become an increasingly tricky player to defend, drawing more fouls per 40 minutes (10.6) than anyone in the country, up from 7.0 last season. And when he gets to the line, Edey is hitting 75.9%, up from 73.4% last season.

On the other end of the floor, Edey blocks 9.8% of all opponent shots when he’s on the floor — up from 7.2% last season — and he changes countless others.

“He is at a different learning curve and growth than normal people at age 22 and playing in college basketball,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said at the Big Ten’s basketball media day. “So I think he still is getting better. He really improved last year his free-throw percentage, his rebounds per minute, his ability to protect the rim. Two years ago he was borderline nonexistent as a rim protector. He might have changed some things, but he wasn’t getting blocks.

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“Last year he got blocks. He changed things. His ball screen defense was good. His motor was better.”

The big step now, Painter says, is believing in himself. Unlike many of the elite players around him, Edey didn’t grow up collecting trophies and accolades on the club-ball circuit so becoming the national player of the year was something new.

Maybe it’s working. He may have both confidence and, for those still skepitcal about his NBA prospects, a little salesmanship.

Edey talked Thursday at Purdue about how, after all those years catching baseballs — and maybe even a few hockey pucks — he is “pretty good” at catching basketballs. He said he never really played goalie in hockey but was willing.

“I was a backup goalie one year because my team had no backup goalie,” Edey said. “I just put myself on the depth chart.”

So far this season, Edey has 17 turnovers in 10 games. But considering how often he touches the ball, that means he turns the ball over on just 10.0% of personal possessions.

While just everything else in Edey’s game has risen, that’s a number that has decreased every season.

But will all that translate to the NBA?

Lloyd says it’s up to NBA decision-makers if Edey has a future in the league but that if he were at that level, “I’d sure like him on my team.”

Painter says he believes Edey is an NBA player but added that it would help if the NBA had a player like Shaquile O’Neal, or at least if teams had players his size who could guard him.

“There’s just not a lot of comps out there for him,” Painter said. “Normally when you buy a house, you find the five comps and get to your price. That’s how they kind of gauge that. Well, he doesn’t he have that.”

Edey’s situation is so unique that ESPN draft analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo posted Tuesday that he “will be a fascinating case study to monitor” leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft.

“There are plenty of teams that have little to no desire to invest in more traditional centers,” they wrote, “but Edey has broken convention to the point that more open-minded front offices have to strongly consider him — potentially toward the end of the first round and most likely as a Boban Marjanovic-style situational reserve.”

He’s fascinating, unique and dangerous to guard, or drive against.

In the big picture, that’s exactly what the coach who has to face him next says he likes to see.

“I’m glad that they’re sticking around college,” Lloyd said of Edey and other decorated big men.

“I think it makes our game better. And I’m happy for those players because they’re uniquely talented guys who get to showcase their talent for a little bit longer.”