Source: Mitchell Layton / Getty
It’s a big week for former Purdue star and back-to-back National Player of the Year Zach Edey.
The 7’4” center is gearing up for the NBA Draft, which begins on Wednesday night. Edey, who lead the Boilermakers to a NCAA Finals appearance as part of his dominant college career, is a polarizing prospect; some have him falling to the bottom of the first round, others have him taken as high as 11th. No one can question what he did in college, but it seems there are plenty of concerns about how that game will translate to the professional level.
During the Tuesday edition of The Ride With JMV, John spoke to Edey’s college coach, Purdue’s Matt Painter. Painter gave his opinion on how Zach Edey’s game will translate to the NBA.
“It depends; if he gets drafted pretty high, if he gets drafted in need, then they have an idea what they’re going to do and then use him. If he gets taken because he’s the best player on the board, because some of those guys, they will take the best player on the board and then figure it out later…that’s hard for a young player to have that next to their name, especially in this draft, and so for him, I think he’s going to get drafted high enough where there’s a need, so especially if he can come in to where he’s a starter or backup, to where he can be in that rotation and kind of know that, and they understand his strengths and they commit to throwing him the ball, because if you’re going to put him out there and not throw him the ball, his value is not going to be as high…He just does a lot of good things that lead to winning; he chases rebounds, he rebounds out of his area, he can run, he can move, he’s as physical as they come. Great low post player, very unselfish, good passer; he just has a lot of good, winning qualities.
Listen to JMV’s full conversation with Purdue head coach Matt Painter down below, and tune into The Ride With JMV weekdays from 3-6pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan!
