Matt Painter confirms Zach Edey will not return for 2024-25 season, per report

Purdue star Zach Edey waited until the final minutes of the NBA draft deadline to announce his plans to return to college basketball for the 2023-24 season last May. There’s not going to be nearly as much drama this year.

Edey has already decided that this will be his final season of college basketball, according to a report from Jon Rothstein.

Even though Zach Edey is a senior, he does have a COVID year remaining. However, he is reportedly not planning to use it.

“Matt Painter tells me that this will be Zach Edey’s final season at Purdue and he will not use his COVID year in 2024-25,” Rothstein tweeted Monday morning. “Averages 23.7 PPG and 11.8 RPG. Will be the first player to win National Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons since Ralph Sampson.”

Edey has been the most dominant player in college basketball for each of the past two seasons. He averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game last season, while shooting nearly 61 percent from the field.

So far this year, Zach Edey is at 23.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game at nearly 63 percent shooting. He is a big reason why the Boilermakers are 25-3 (14-3) with three regular season games remaining.

Edey finished with 35 points and 15 rebounds on Sunday as Purdue beat Michigan to sweep the season series with the Wolverines.

While Purdue and Edey are obviously pleased with another solid regular season, the main goal for the Boilermakers is to have NCAA Tournament success in 2023-24. Purdue was upset in the first round of last year’s tournament, becoming just the second No. 1 seed ever to lose to a 16 seed.

Once the NCAA Tournament is over, Edey will turn his attention to the NBA draft. There are plenty of different opinions on where he will be selected.

Edey was viewed as a likely second-round pick last year. However, ESPN projects him to go in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft, potentially as a lottery pick.

That would be quite an accomplishment for Edey, who grew up playing baseball and hockey as his primary sports. He eventually turned his attention to basketball and has put together one of the most dominant careers in college basketball history.

Up next, Zach Edey and the Boilermakers will host Michigan State on Saturday, March 2. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. at Mackey Arena.