WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue's Zach Edey and head coach Matt Painter both picked up awards today from the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Edey was voted a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, being the only unanimous selection among the 58 voters. It marks his second, first-team All-America selection after earning a spot on the Sporting News' first team. Two more by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and USBWA will come out Wednesday.
Should he receive All-America honors from those two organizations, Edey will be a consensus All-American, giving the Boilermakers consensus All-Americans with different players in back-to-back years for the first time in modern history. Jaden Ivey was a consensus All-American in 2022.
Edey has already been announced as a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and Wooden Award, as well as the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given to the nation's top center. Edey is considered a front-runner to win all the major awards this season.
He was named named the USBWA District V Player of the Year, the organization announced today.
Edey has already won National Player of the Year honors by The Sporting News and Big Ten Player of the Year accolades after helping Purdue to a Big Ten regular-season title and a No. 1 national ranking for seven weeks. He becomes Purdue's first recipient of National Player of the Year honors since Glenn Robinson in 1994.
Earlier this season, Edey joined an exclusive list of Boilermakers to win the Big Ten Player of the Year, joining the late Caleb Swanigan (2017), JaJuan Johnson (2011), Glenn Robinson (1994) and Steve Scheffler (1990) as winners of the league's top honor.
Edey has also been named to the Sporting News' first-team All-America squad. Should he be named All-American by the AP, the USBWA and NABC, Edey would become Purdue's fourth consensus All-American in the last seven years, joining Swanigan (2017), Carsen Edwards (2019) and Jaden Ivey (2022).
Edey, a 7-foot, 4-inch center from Toronto, currently averages 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.6 assists per game while shooting almost 60 percent from the field and nearly 75 percent from the free throw line – ranking sixth nationally in scoring and second in rebounds. He also leads the country with 26 double-doubles.
He is one of just two Big Ten players in league history to have at least 700 points and 400 rebounds in a season is close to becoming the first player in NCAA history with 750 points, 450 rebounds, 50 blocks and 50 assists in a season (assists became an official NCAA statistic in 1983-84).
His eight games of 30 points and 10 rebounds are the most for a major-college player in the last 20 years, surpassing Blake Griffin's and Kevin Durant's seven games of 30 and 10.
Edey became the second player in Big Ten history and the first since Ohio State's Gary Bradds in 1963-64 to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, and he is one of just nine players (Blake Griffin, Ike Diogu, Antawn Jamison, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, Gary Bradds) to lead a major-college conference in all three categories in NCAA history. Griffin was the last to do so in 2009.
Edey was also named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award and earned a spot on the Big Ten's All-Defensive team.
Meanwhile, Painter was named the USBWA District V Coach of the Year after leading the Boilermakers to a 29-5 overall record, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years, the school's 25th regular-season Big Ten Championship and the second Big Ten Tournament title.
Purdue started the season unranked and picked to finish in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten standings, but quickly made an impact in November, winning the Phil Knight Legacy with wins over West Virginia, Gonzaga and Duke. It went from unranked to ranked No. 1 in just 34 days, the quickest ascent to No. 1 in AP Poll history.
The Boilermakers achieved a No. 1 ranking in the country for the second straight season and were ranked No. 1 in the country for a nation's-best seven weeks during the year. Purdue owns 19 quad-1 and quad-2 wins, the second-highest total in the country. Since the start of last season, Purdue's 58 wins are the fourth-most nationally and the most in a two-year span in school history. The Boilermakers have achieved their most success away from Mackey Arena, posting a 15-3 record in road and neutral-site games. In addition, Purdue owns 17 wins this year against teams ranked in the KenPom top 50, easily the most in the country.
Painter was named the Associated Press' co-Coach of the Year in the Big Ten Conference and was the 2019 NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) National Coach of the Year.
Edey was voted a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, being the only unanimous selection among the 58 voters. It marks his second, first-team All-America selection after earning a spot on the Sporting News' first team. Two more by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and USBWA will come out Wednesday.
Should he receive All-America honors from those two organizations, Edey will be a consensus All-American, giving the Boilermakers consensus All-Americans with different players in back-to-back years for the first time in modern history. Jaden Ivey was a consensus All-American in 2022.
Edey has already been announced as a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and Wooden Award, as well as the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given to the nation's top center. Edey is considered a front-runner to win all the major awards this season.
He was named named the USBWA District V Player of the Year, the organization announced today.
Edey has already won National Player of the Year honors by The Sporting News and Big Ten Player of the Year accolades after helping Purdue to a Big Ten regular-season title and a No. 1 national ranking for seven weeks. He becomes Purdue's first recipient of National Player of the Year honors since Glenn Robinson in 1994.
Earlier this season, Edey joined an exclusive list of Boilermakers to win the Big Ten Player of the Year, joining the late Caleb Swanigan (2017), JaJuan Johnson (2011), Glenn Robinson (1994) and Steve Scheffler (1990) as winners of the league's top honor.
Edey has also been named to the Sporting News' first-team All-America squad. Should he be named All-American by the AP, the USBWA and NABC, Edey would become Purdue's fourth consensus All-American in the last seven years, joining Swanigan (2017), Carsen Edwards (2019) and Jaden Ivey (2022).
Edey, a 7-foot, 4-inch center from Toronto, currently averages 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.6 assists per game while shooting almost 60 percent from the field and nearly 75 percent from the free throw line – ranking sixth nationally in scoring and second in rebounds. He also leads the country with 26 double-doubles.
He is one of just two Big Ten players in league history to have at least 700 points and 400 rebounds in a season is close to becoming the first player in NCAA history with 750 points, 450 rebounds, 50 blocks and 50 assists in a season (assists became an official NCAA statistic in 1983-84).
His eight games of 30 points and 10 rebounds are the most for a major-college player in the last 20 years, surpassing Blake Griffin's and Kevin Durant's seven games of 30 and 10.
Edey became the second player in Big Ten history and the first since Ohio State's Gary Bradds in 1963-64 to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, and he is one of just nine players (Blake Griffin, Ike Diogu, Antawn Jamison, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, Gary Bradds) to lead a major-college conference in all three categories in NCAA history. Griffin was the last to do so in 2009.
Edey was also named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award and earned a spot on the Big Ten's All-Defensive team.
Meanwhile, Painter was named the USBWA District V Coach of the Year after leading the Boilermakers to a 29-5 overall record, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 27 years, the school's 25th regular-season Big Ten Championship and the second Big Ten Tournament title.
Purdue started the season unranked and picked to finish in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten standings, but quickly made an impact in November, winning the Phil Knight Legacy with wins over West Virginia, Gonzaga and Duke. It went from unranked to ranked No. 1 in just 34 days, the quickest ascent to No. 1 in AP Poll history.
The Boilermakers achieved a No. 1 ranking in the country for the second straight season and were ranked No. 1 in the country for a nation's-best seven weeks during the year. Purdue owns 19 quad-1 and quad-2 wins, the second-highest total in the country. Since the start of last season, Purdue's 58 wins are the fourth-most nationally and the most in a two-year span in school history. The Boilermakers have achieved their most success away from Mackey Arena, posting a 15-3 record in road and neutral-site games. In addition, Purdue owns 17 wins this year against teams ranked in the KenPom top 50, easily the most in the country.
Painter was named the Associated Press' co-Coach of the Year in the Big Ten Conference and was the 2019 NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) National Coach of the Year.