Zach Edey says Rick Barnes, other coaches ‘looked over him’ in recruiting

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Zach Edey had a few words for Rick Barnes and the other college coaches who never recruited him.

His message was essentially: look at me now.

“There were so many coaches that looked over me, like you could — name a program, I could name a coach that looked over me,” the 7-foot-4 Purdue big man said after he put up 40 points and 16 rebounds in Purdue’s 72-66 win over Tennessee in the Elite Eight.

“Tennessee, Rick Barnes is a great coach, but he was at our practice, looked over me,” Edey added.

“It’s kind of been the story of my life. People have doubted me. People looked past me. Can’t do that anymore.”

No, you can’t.

“There are so many coaches that looked over me… At Tennessee, Rick Barnes is a great coach… but looked over me”

Zach Edey on his journey to the #MFinalFour pic.twitter.com/RqOAqwIwUb

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 31, 2024

Edey has led Purdue to its first Final Four since 1980 where the Boiilermakers will meet the Duke/NC State winner on Saturday in Phoenix.

The achievement has to be extremely satisfying for Edey — the reigning National Player of the Year who is averaging 24.6 points and 12.1 rebounds this season — and head coach Matt Painter after the program lost to a 13 seed, a 15 and a 16 in the last three years.

Edey, meantime, has had to deal with all sorts of criticism that he only dominates because he’s tall and not skilled, that he can’t win at the highest level and that he’s not an NBA player.

“One thing I really like about Zach, he’s humble,” teammate Lance Jones said. “He doesn’t brag about what he does and what he’s capable of doing. He just goes out there, he works, he puts his head down. You know he’s a great teammate.”

Purdue has never won a title and the Big Ten hasn’t captured one since Michigan State in 2000.

Now Edey and the Boilermakers are two wins away from history.

“I think what wins basketball games in the regular season wins basketball games in the postseason,” Edey said. “The rules stay the same. Our team stays the same. Everything’s the same. It’s just basketball.”

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