Reigning Naismith College Player of the Year Zach Edey will suit up for his country at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, competing for Canada Basketball.
Edey will try to help a loaded Canadian roster qualify for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, facing off against Latvia, Lebanon and France in Group H of the FIBA World Cup.
Once the World Cup comes to a close, you might think Edey will be taking his talents to NBA training camp like the majority of his Canada Basketball teammates. However, Edey elected to pull his name from the 2023 NBA Draft, deciding to return to Purdue for his senior season.
Why didn't Edey keep his name in the 2023 NBA Draft? The Sporting News breaks it down below.
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Why didn't Zach Edey declare for 2023 NBA Draft?
Edey went through the entire pre-draft process for the 2023 NBA Draft, but when the deadline to withdraw approached, he announced his return to Purdue on X, formerly known as Twitter.
RUN IT BACK🔄 pic.twitter.com/oJfQTbX6SP
— zach (@zach_edey) June 1, 2023
When Edey was asked about his decision, he talked about how he weighed both options but ultimately decided to do what he wanted to do.
"It was a tough decision, obviously. It was tough in a way, but it was easy in a way. ... I kind of took a step back and looked at it, like, I want to do what makes me happy," Edey said, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier. "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.
"I decided that another year with this great group of guys (at Purdue), we're gonna be a great team. We're gonna have great aspirations, compared to maybe going to the NBA and playing a limited role in my first year. ... For my own happiness and for what I really wanna do, this was the best option for me."
Edey is coming off of a season where he was the most dominant player in college basketball, averaging career highs of 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game. He earned AP Player of the Year, Naismith Player of the Year, Sporting News National Player of the Year and Big Ten Player of the Year, but Purdue's season came to an infamously historic ending.
The Boilermakers became the second-ever No. 1 seed to be upset by a No. 16 seed in March Madness, falling to Fairleigh Dickinson in the Round of 64.
Edey was projected to either be drafted in the late second round or go undrafted altogether, receiving a second-round grade at best among most draft analysts.
Returning to Purdue for his senior season will give Edey a chance to take some of his feedback from the pre-draft process, work on his game and fine-tune his skills to give the NBA another chance in 2024.
Zach Edey college stats, accolades
Edey's stats over three seasons at Purdue
- 15.5 points per game
- 8.6 rebounds per game
- 1.5 blocks per game
- 1.1 assists per game
- 61.9 field goal percentage
- 0.0 3-point percentage
- 70.2 free throw percentage
Edey's accolades over three seasons at Purdue
- 2022-23 AP Player of the Year
- 2022-23 Sporting News National Player of the Year
- 2022-23 Wooden Award
- 2022-23 Naismith Player of the Year
- 2022-23 Consensus All America
- 2022-23 Sporting News First Team All American
- 2022-23 Big Ten Player of the Year
- 2022-23 Big Ten Tournament MVP
- Two-time All-Big Ten
- One-time Big Ten All-Defensive Team
- Big Ten All-Freshman First Team
