Source: Jamie Sabau / Getty
Purdue center Zach Edey was named Associated Press National Player of Year on Friday, becoming the first back-to-back winner since Virginia 7-footer Ralph Sampson who took the honor three straight years in the early 1980s.
Edey received 57 of 62 votes from journalists who vote in the weekly AP Top 25.
Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht received three votes and Houston’s Jamal Shead got two.
According to espn.com Edey said:
“I get to pay [coach Matt Painter] back. There were so many coaches that looked over me, like you could — name a program — I could name a coach that looked over me,” Edey said. “Tennessee, Rick Barnes is a great coach, but he was at our practice, looked over me. It’s kind of been the story of my life. People have doubted me. People looked past me. Can’t do that anymore.”
This season Edey broke Rick Mount’s 54-year-old school scoring record and now has surpassed 2,400 points.
He broke Joe Barry Carroll’s 44-year-old career rebounding mark whose jersey number, 15, hangs in the rafters alongside those of other All-Americans such as John Wooden and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, and even one of Edey’s former teammates, Jaden Ivey.
Edey and his teammates are two wins away from Purdue’s first national title since Wooden led the Boilermakers to the 1932 championship.
You can tell he really wants to do so.
The post Zach Edey Named AP National Player of Year appeared first on 93.5 / 107.5 The Fan.
Zach Edey Named AP National Player of Year was originally published on 1075thefan.com
