Zach Edey, Matt Painter describe feeling of playing in national championship game
Purdue is 40 minutes away from the program’s first national championship. Getting to the Final Four was a huge breakthrough under head coach Matt Painter but they came to Phoenix to play on Monday night. They will now play in the title game after taking down NC State in Saturday’s first game.
From the moment Edey announced he would be returning to Purdue, there was only one accomplishment anyone in West Lafayette would consider a success. It’s been the talking point around the team all year. Even so, one game at a time was the mentality, even throughout the NCAA Tournament and into the Final Four.
Painter’s team has now put themselves in the national championship game and will soon find out their opponent.
“It feels great,” Painter said when speaking postgame to CBS’ Tracy Wolfson. “He (Edey) didn’t come back to win a couple of games in the tournament. He came back to compete for a national championship. But you got to put yourself in position first. Obviously, we’re here now, and we’ll wait to see who wins this next game.”
Last season’s story has been told over and over. A first-round loss to Farleigh Dickinson after earning a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament was an embarrassing moment and just the second occurrence in the event’s history. Narratives have been written about Purdue as a program and most have already been broken.
Adding a national championship would eliminate them all though, and Edey is ready for the challenge. Whether Alabama or UConn joins them at State Farm Stadium on Monday night, locking in for just 40 more minutes is all that’s required.
“It’s what we’ve been talking about all year,” Edey said. “It’s probably been four years now. Playing and accepting that challenge next game. Whoever comes out of this next game is going to be a great team. But we’re going to lock in this game and execute.”
If UConn wins, they would be fresh off their own championship last season. The program has plenty of experience in the first weekend of April.
Alabama, on the other hand, would be in uncharted waters. They have not played in the national championship in program history and are looking to make history this weekend.