Purdue center Zach Edey thought long and hard about leaving for the NBA last spring. He just found too many reasons to stay in school.
Adding a third Big Ten championship ring to his collection sounded intriguing. The 7-foot-4 Canadian also thought he could improve on last season’s breakout campaign. And, of course, he and the rest of the third-ranked Boilermakers wanted one more shot at winning a national championship. Perhaps the biggest factor for the nation’s best-known big man was enjoying one last year of campus life. “Purdue has been great to me,” Edey said.
“We talked about it, we discussed it, but now it’s time for us to get back to work and put ourselves back in that position.” Edey couldn’t think of a better way to finish his final college season. “Everyone’s really worked hard this summer to try and right that wrong,” Edey said. Edey’s return gives him a chance to become the fifth player to be the national player of the year in consecutive seasons. Virginia center Ralph Sampson was the last to do it. He won the award three straight times .