Toronto's Zach Edey drafted by Memphis Grizzlies ninth overall
Purdue centre Zach Edey celebrates after a basket against UConn during the first half of the NCAA college Final Four championship basketball game, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. Zach Edey has been selected ninth overall in the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Brynn Anderson
NEW YORK CITY — Zach Edey has been selected ninth overall in the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old centre from Toronto is the first Canadian to be drafted this year. Swiss-Canadian Kyshawn George was picked 24th overall by the New York Knicks but reportedly traded to the Washington Wizards.
Edey was a member of Canada's senior men's team that won bronze at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in September and will play on the national team again at the Paris Olympics this summer.
He averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and two assists over 39 games for the Purdue Boilermakers in the 2023-24 season.
Edey's NCAA career average was 18.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 1.3 assists over four seasons with Purdue. Those numbers are skewed lower as he started only twice in his freshman year and played half as many minutes per game that season.
He won the Naismith Award on April 7 as U.S. college basketball's player of the year for a second time. He is only the third male player to win back-to-back Naismiths, joining Hall of Famers Ralph Sampson and Bill Walton.
George grew up in Monthey, Switzerland, and has played for the Swiss national under-16 team in international competition. His father Deon George is Canadian.
The six-foot-eight George was a swingman for the University of Miami, averaging 7.6 points, three rebounds, and 2.2 assists over 31 games in his freshman season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2024.
The Canadian Press