WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – One of the top publications on college basketball, the Almanac, has ranked Purdue No. 3 in its preseason poll released online today.
In addition, the publication named senior center Zach Edey the preseason National Player of the Year in addition to being a first-team All-American. It also ranked Fletcher Loyer No. 100 on its list of top-100 players.
The preseason publication, created by the Field of 68 contingent, Heat Check Basketball, 3 Man Weave and Verbal Commits, is regarded one of the top preseason publications on the market.
The Boilermakers are ranked in the top three in almost every early top-25 poll, which mostly features the trio of Purdue, Kansas and Duke in some order. The Boilermakers went 29-6 a year ago, won the Big Ten regular-season title by three games, won the Big Ten Tournament and was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue was ranked No. 1 in the country for a nation's-best seven weeks a year ago.
Head coach Matt Painter welcomes back all five starters, returning almost 90 percent of its production while also welcoming in four highly-regarded newcomers (Myles Colvin, Will Berg, Camden Heide, Lance Jones).
Related to the top-25, Purdue will face No. 4 Michigan State, No. 11 Gonzaga, No. 13 Arizona and No. 20 Alabama during the regular season, with possible games against No. 2 Kansas, No. 7 Marquette and No. 9 Tennessee and an exhibition game against No. 21 Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Edey was named the publication's preseason National Player of the Year, returning for his senior season after a dominant junior campaign. Edey won all six National Player of the Year awards, winning the Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, The Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA), Associated Press (AP) National Player of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Player of the Year and The Sporting News National Player of the Year. In addition, he has won the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation's top center.
Edey is looking to become the first consensus, back-to-back NPOY since UCLA's Bill Walton in 1971-72 and 1972-73. Ralph Sampson was named in three years from 1981 to 1983, but was only consensus in 1982.
He was named a 2023 first-team All-American by every outlet and in June was named a finalist for the top Male College Athlete ESPY award by ESPN. He was also a finalist for the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation's top amateur athlete.
Edey became the first Boilermaker since Glenn Robinson in 1994 to win National Player of the Year accolades. He is also the fifth Big Ten Player in the last 14 years to be named National Player of the Year joining Evan Turner (2010), Trey Burke (2013), Frank Kaminsky (2015) and Luka Garza (2021) as National Players of the Year.
Edey earned Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year after a remarkable junior season at Purdue. He was named a consensus first-team All-American, the second straight season that Purdue has had a consensus All-American (Jaden Ivey, 2022), after averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game.
He became the first player in NCAA history (since blocks became an official NCAA stat) to record at least 750 points, 400 rebounds, 70 blocks and 50 assists in a season, ranking sixth nationally in scoring, second in rebounds, 19th in blocked shots and 21st in field goal percentage (.607), the only player in the NCAA database to rank in the top 25 of all four categories in the same season.
He finished the season ranking sixth on Purdue's single-season chart for points (757), first in rebounds (438), fifth in field goals made (290), 14th in field goal percentage (.607), first in dunks (76) and second in double-doubles (27).
He has scored in double-figures in 51 straight games, the longest streak in the country, and fourth-longest streak in school history.
For his career, Edey has scored 1,533 points with 847 rebounds, 148 blocks and 106 assists, shooting almost 62 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, sophomore Fletcher Loyer was ranked No. 100 on The Almanac's list of top-100 players after a solid freshman campaign. Loyer was second on the team in scoring (11.0 PPG) and his 59 made 3-pointers were the third most by a freshman in school history.
Loyer was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times, tying a Purdue school record, while being selected as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Jan. 16, after pouring in a career-high 27 points with a freshman-record six 3-pointers against Nebraska.
In addition, the publication named senior center Zach Edey the preseason National Player of the Year in addition to being a first-team All-American. It also ranked Fletcher Loyer No. 100 on its list of top-100 players.
The preseason publication, created by the Field of 68 contingent, Heat Check Basketball, 3 Man Weave and Verbal Commits, is regarded one of the top preseason publications on the market.
The Boilermakers are ranked in the top three in almost every early top-25 poll, which mostly features the trio of Purdue, Kansas and Duke in some order. The Boilermakers went 29-6 a year ago, won the Big Ten regular-season title by three games, won the Big Ten Tournament and was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Purdue was ranked No. 1 in the country for a nation's-best seven weeks a year ago.
Head coach Matt Painter welcomes back all five starters, returning almost 90 percent of its production while also welcoming in four highly-regarded newcomers (Myles Colvin, Will Berg, Camden Heide, Lance Jones).
Related to the top-25, Purdue will face No. 4 Michigan State, No. 11 Gonzaga, No. 13 Arizona and No. 20 Alabama during the regular season, with possible games against No. 2 Kansas, No. 7 Marquette and No. 9 Tennessee and an exhibition game against No. 21 Arkansas.
Meanwhile, Edey was named the publication's preseason National Player of the Year, returning for his senior season after a dominant junior campaign. Edey won all six National Player of the Year awards, winning the Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, The Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA), Associated Press (AP) National Player of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Player of the Year and The Sporting News National Player of the Year. In addition, he has won the Pete Newell Big Man of the Year Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation's top center.
Edey is looking to become the first consensus, back-to-back NPOY since UCLA's Bill Walton in 1971-72 and 1972-73. Ralph Sampson was named in three years from 1981 to 1983, but was only consensus in 1982.
He was named a 2023 first-team All-American by every outlet and in June was named a finalist for the top Male College Athlete ESPY award by ESPN. He was also a finalist for the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented to the nation's top amateur athlete.
Edey became the first Boilermaker since Glenn Robinson in 1994 to win National Player of the Year accolades. He is also the fifth Big Ten Player in the last 14 years to be named National Player of the Year joining Evan Turner (2010), Trey Burke (2013), Frank Kaminsky (2015) and Luka Garza (2021) as National Players of the Year.
Edey earned Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year after a remarkable junior season at Purdue. He was named a consensus first-team All-American, the second straight season that Purdue has had a consensus All-American (Jaden Ivey, 2022), after averaging 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 assists per game.
He became the first player in NCAA history (since blocks became an official NCAA stat) to record at least 750 points, 400 rebounds, 70 blocks and 50 assists in a season, ranking sixth nationally in scoring, second in rebounds, 19th in blocked shots and 21st in field goal percentage (.607), the only player in the NCAA database to rank in the top 25 of all four categories in the same season.
He finished the season ranking sixth on Purdue's single-season chart for points (757), first in rebounds (438), fifth in field goals made (290), 14th in field goal percentage (.607), first in dunks (76) and second in double-doubles (27).
He has scored in double-figures in 51 straight games, the longest streak in the country, and fourth-longest streak in school history.
For his career, Edey has scored 1,533 points with 847 rebounds, 148 blocks and 106 assists, shooting almost 62 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, sophomore Fletcher Loyer was ranked No. 100 on The Almanac's list of top-100 players after a solid freshman campaign. Loyer was second on the team in scoring (11.0 PPG) and his 59 made 3-pointers were the third most by a freshman in school history.
Loyer was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times, tying a Purdue school record, while being selected as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Jan. 16, after pouring in a career-high 27 points with a freshman-record six 3-pointers against Nebraska.