NEW YORK — Zach Eddy is taking his 7-foot-4 frame to Memphis to begin his NBA career.
Eddy, a former Purdue center who won The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball player of the year for more than 40 years, was taken by the Grizzlies with the ninth pick in the NBA on Wednesday. Draft.
And begins the process of seeing how his game translates to the next level. Edey will be one of the tallest players in the NBA this coming season; In 2023-24, only San Antonio’s Rookie of the Year Victor Wembaniama, Houston’s Boban Marjanovic and Phoenix’s Bol Bol were listed at 7-foot-3 or taller.
Edey averaged 22.3 points and 12.9 rebounds as a junior, then 25.2 points and 12.2 rebounds as a senior as he led Purdue to the NCAA title game against Connecticut.
During the 1960–61 season, Edey was one of six players to win the AP Player of the Year award multiple times. Others: Ohio State’s Jerry Lucas, UCLA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton, North Carolina State’s David Thompson and Virginia’s Ralph Sampson. Lucas, Abdul-Jabbar, Walton, Thompson and Eddy are all two-time winners; Samson is a three-time AP Award winner.
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