New story at Ringer: Zach Edey's Just Different
Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center might be college basketball’s biggest lightning rod, but Zach Edey’s learned how to harness the hate, turning him into arguably the best big man in the country.
Hi everyone! I hope you’re well. My newest feature is out at The Ringer on Purdue big man Zach Edey. You may have seen him over the last few days in conference tournament play, heard his name over the year. He’s arguably one of the most fascinating players in all of college basketball and one of its biggest breakout stars. When I went to Indianapolis for the Greg Oden piece, my previous story at The Ringer, I also went to West Lafayette to report this Edey piece. Thankfully Butler and Purdue are not that far a part! There’s some amazing coffee shops in between, good for writing two stories :) (Rivet! Indie Coffee Roasters! Hubbard & Cravens!)
Among many themes, this story on Edey is about drive, work ethic, being 'the outsider,' and the gift of embracing who you are. It’s not just about his size, but being Chinese-Canadian. Being a late bloomer in basketball. Being underrecruited. Being a classic big in a 3-point shooting game. He’s different from his peers in so many ways, and it wasn’t always easy to embrace that. He has now, though, morphing into a superstar at Purdue and a cult hero in West Lafayette. “Big Maple” is what they call him.
“Being different, it made me find myself. It made me embrace who I am because I can’t be like everyone else,” Edey says.
I hope you enjoy, and share the piece! Happy March Madness:
https://www.theringer.com/2023/3/15/23640235/zach-edey-purdue-boilermakers