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Big Ten CommunicationsPublished: 4/8/2024, Last updated: 4/8/2024
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Edey Collects Naismith, Abdul-Jabbar Awards

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PHOENIX, Ariz. – Purdue center Zach Edey collected a pair of awards on Sunday, as the Atlanta Tipoff Club presented Edey with the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Award , while the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame named Edey its 2024 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year. This is the second consecutive year that Edey has received both accolades.

Edey becomes the third player in award history to win more than one Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy, as only Virginia’s Ralph Sampson (1981-83) and UCLA’s Bill Walton (1972-74) have done so. Glenn Robinson is the only other Purdue player to win the award (1994).

A Big Ten player has won the Naismith Trophy six times in the last 15 years. This includes Edey last year, Luka Garza, Iowa (2021), Frank Kaminsky III, Wisconsin (2015), Trey Burke, Michigan (2013) and Evan Turner, Ohio State (2010).

Likewise, Edey joins Garza (2020, 2021) as the only two-time Kareem Abdul-Jabar award recipients. Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ (2019) and Kaminski (2015) join Edey and Garza as winners from the Big Ten in the award’s 10-year history.

Entering Monday's National Championship game, Edey has dominated all season long, averaging a Division I-leading 24.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, second in the country, 2.2 blocks and 2.1 assists per game. For the second consecutive year, the center also led the Big Ten in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage (62.5%).

Edey has dominated the NCAA Tournament so far, being one of three players (Edey, Elvin Hayes, Jerry West) to have at least 140 points and 70 rebounds in a single NCAA Tournament, already producing 140 points and 77 rebounds in this year's tournament. He has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in six straight NCAA Tournament games, marking the longest such streak in tournament history.

Edey needs four points to become the fifth player in NCAA history, and the first since Larry Bird in 1979, to have at least 950 points and 450 rebounds in a season, ranking second in Purdue history in points and first in rebounds in a season.