Zach Edey is the first college basketball star to be named the back-to-back AP Player of the Year since the early 1980s. However, baseball was his first love.
Trying to get a hit off of Purdue’s center during his Little League days was a young batter’s worst nightmare and the same can be said for anyone who had to pitch to him!
Edey’s former coach, Eric Stickney, told Matt Monagan of MLB.com that he was a literal safety concern.
It was definitely like a safety concern when he played. You would really worry about the safety of the other team’s pitcher if he was able to get ahold of one and hit a line drive.
Pitchers should’ve been wearing shin guards or had a hockey helmet on.
— Eric Stickney, via MLB.com
With that being said, the big Little Leaguer was most dangerous on the mound. Edey quickly became an ace at a young age, throwing 10 or 12 miles per hour faster than every other kid his age.
Things really picked up at the age of 14.
Edey recently detailed how his size has always been a problem for his opposition. That was especially true as a 6-foot-10 eighth grader. To put his height in perspective, Randy Johnson was that tall when he was pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
If his incredibly difficult-to-read release point was not challenging enough, Edey had ridiculously large hands for someone his age. He could hold seven baseballs in one hand. His control created an even greater spin rate, which only made his pitches even nastier.
By the time that Edey hit high school, he was 6-foot-11 pumping 76mph. Most high schoolers are lucky to eclipse the 6-foot mark. Batters had to stare down a pitcher who was, in many instances, more than a foot taller.
Although Edey played baseball in the spring and hockey in the winter, everybody kept asking him if he wanted to play basketball. That was not of interest at first.
Eventually, the opportunities became too good to pass up. Zach Edey made the switch during his sophomore year of high school. The rest is history, literally!