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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue junior center Zach Eddy is going to have some great scoring nights. Despite scoring 12 points on just 4-of-13 shooting in the team’s 84-53 win over Milwaukee to open the season, he knows finishing at the rim won’t be much of a problem moving forward.
Instead of letting offensive performance affect his game, the 7-foot-4 center flashed the skills he’s been working on all offseason. Ede grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked six shot attempts, both career highs.
On February 27, 2011, he became the first Big Ten men’s basketball player to record at least 12 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks in a game since former Boilermaker star JaJuan Johnson.
Now the star of Purdue’s show, Eddie has conditioned himself to take on the biggest role of his college career. He has proven to be a dominant force inside the paint, but is now showing that he can easily take over games on the defensive end of the floor.
“The ball wasn’t really going my way, so I felt I could impact the game in other ways,” Ede said of his performance. “So really I focused on rebounding and defense.”
Eady started the game 0-for-4 from the floor and didn’t see a shot attempt go through the rim until a thunderous alley-oop dunk from freshman guard Braden Smith. The first half against the Panthers gave the Boilermakers a 12-point lead with less than eight minutes to play.
Of the shot attempts that were off the mark, the vast majority bounced past one or two defenders. At full extension, every attempt from the field looks like a routine layup by Edey. Those are the shots he put over the net countless times in practice and in games during his career with the program.
“It’s tough, but I practice those shots hundreds of times a day, so I’m not really worried about them,” Ede said. “Sometimes I felt like I might have been too busy or faked a pump every once in a while.”
But Ede is not a player who disappears when he is not putting up points on the scoreboard. Entering his third year with the Boilermakers, he has worked to increase his athleticism to avoid being exploited by speedier opponents in the 2022-23 season.
The ability to defend ball screens has been an emphasis, and Eddy is now able to get back to the basket relatively quickly after pulling away from the baseline.
“I’ve been really working on my body and connecting it to the defensive side,” Ede said. “I felt like I really needed to work on foot speed, my lateral movement, things like that.”
Even when Ede’s shot isn’t falling, he commands attention in the paint just because of his size. He managed to reach double figures against Milwaukee by drawing five fouls and sinking all four of his free-throw attempts.
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Last season, Eddy shot 64.9% from the line and admitted to losing confidence in his ability to consistently convert foul shots. But now, he shows an effective shooting stroke and doesn’t hesitate to draw fouls.
“I think that’s a big difference. People have to guard you directly when you can knock down free throws,” Ede said. “When you can’t, they can try to foul you. Sometimes they can get away with it, sometimes they don’t, but you can’t live with them lining up when they’re free. Throwing.”
Ede’s growth as a passer has been evident every year he’s been in the Purdue basketball program. Game experience is key in improving court vision and finding open teammates when taking on consistent double teams in the paint.
In the 2021–22 campaign, Edey averaged 1.2 assists per game. Against the Panthers, he recorded a pair of assists that led to 3-pointers by juniors Brandon Newman and Ethan Morton.
“You have to get those game reps,” Ede said. “I felt like I was basically double-teamed almost every time last year. It really helped to work with that double, find the open man, don’t rush when you’re in the double, wait for somebody to get open. Then when you see that man, quickly knock the ball out of your hands.”
Eadie is poised to have a huge season leading Purdue basketball and will often be the team’s leading scorer. That wasn’t the case on opening night, but the poor shooting performance doesn’t point to any obvious problems for the star big man.
The blame for the boilermakers will continue through Edey. In games where high-efficiency shooting is paired with strong defense, he’s unstoppable no matter who the team is tipped against.
“I thought he played well outside of his inability to finish,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “He rebounded really well and I thought his ball screen defense was really good. He blocked six shots and changed two other shots.
“It’s all good. He’ll fix it. He rushes sometimes, like he did a couple of times in the first half. He’s got to collect himself, use his shot fakes, use his freeze fakes at the rim. , keep his angles and then be aggressive.”
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