Key matchup: Gonzaga faces Purdue’s Zach Edey, who has developed into ‘one of the best in college basketball’

DETROIT – To put Zach Edey’s past two seasons into perspective, consider the company he’s keeping: Legends like Bill Walton, Ralph Sampson, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Elvin Hayes, Oscar Robertson and Rick Barry.

Edey, Purdue’s 7-foot-4, 300-pound center, has been the most dominant player in college basketball the past two seasons, reinforced by the numbers and the eye test.

Edey is No. 1 nationally in scoring (24.5 points per game), points (859), field goals (289), free throws (280), free-throw attempts (392) and offensive rebounds (4.7 per game). He’s second in rebounds (12.1) and total rebounds (422). He’s third in double-doubles (26).

His senior season has edged out his junior season in several statistical categories, including points (24.5 points vs. 22.3 points as a junior), field goal-percentage (62.3 vs. 60.7), blocks (2.3 vs. 2.1) and assists (2.1 vs. 1.5).

Edey sits atop every scouting report, including Gonzaga’s heading into a Sweet 16 matchup Friday.

“Phenomenal, phenomenal player,” GU coach Mark Few said. “I’ve been doing this a long time and you just have never dealt with something like Zach, that size but yet that good of a player.”

Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard and Edey were teammates on Canada’s U19 team at the 2021 FIBA World Cup in Latvia. Edey averaged a double-double (15.1 points, 14.1 rebounds) for the third-place Canadians. The U.S. edged France and Victor Wembanyama in the championship game and former Zag Chet Holmgren was named tournament MVP.

“I was in ninth grade,” Nembhard said of his first meeting with Edey. “He’s just a huge dude. He’s evolved a lot, his skill, footwork, everything. When I first met him he couldn’t really move too well, he was just learning how to play. Right now, he’s one of the best in college basketball.”

Edey, who makes 71.4% of his free throws, scored 25 points, hitting 8 of 16 shots from the field and 9 of 10 at the foul line, in Purdue’s 73-63 win over GU in November at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu. He added 14 boards, five at the offensive end, and swatted three shots.

“We’re probably going to throw everything at him, some doubles, just try to throw him off game,” Zags forward Anton Watson said. “But he’s going to score, get rebounds. We have to try to figure some things out to stop him a little bit.”

Edey is expected to join Walton (1972, ’73 and ’74) and Sampson (1981, ’82 and 83) as the only repeat winners of the Naismith Trophy (player of the year).

Edey is the first player in NCAA history to enter the Sweet 16 with at least 800 points, 400 rebounds, 50 assists and 50 blocks in a season. He’s three boards from joining Hayes, Barry and Robertson as the only players with at least two seasons with 750 points and 425 rebounds. Edey is the first player since Alcindor (1967-68) with at least 50 points, 35 rebounds and a shooting percentage of 65 or higher in the first two NCAA Tournament games.

Opponents have exhausted nearly every page in their defensive playbooks on Edey. Purdue guard Lance Jones recalled seeing “a couple of triple teams, a lot of fouling and a lot of hook and holds.”

“We’ve been through a lot together as a team,” Edey said. “So there’s no situation that we can really be put in that we haven’t been put in before.”

The Zags will throw multiple looks and defenders at Edey. Graham Ike will likely have the defensive assignment at the outset with Watson or Ben Gregg next in line.

Gregg had some success against Edey in previous meetings. Braden Huff, who held his own last week against 7-2 Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, is another option.

Ike, Watson and Gregg were in early foul trouble after taking turns on Edey in Hawaii, but Few was generally pleased with their efforts.

“Just try to stay legal, try to keep the physicality up as much as possible, as much as the refs will allow me to, and meet him early,” Ike said. “That’s about it. Just trust my teammates. They’ll have my back with good ball pressure, good communication on the floor.”