Sports

Zach Edey Calls Vols Coach Out After Playing With A Personal Chip On His Massive Shoulders

#March Madness
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Purdue center Zach Edey dunks the ball against Tennessee.

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Purdue center Zach Edey continues to absolutely dominate NCAA Tournament opponents. This time, it was Tennessee, with the Vols catching a double-double from the Boilermaker big man.

When the final buzzer sounded, Purdue booked its ticket to the Final Four with a six-point win. Edey notched a career-high in points scored before going on an all-out evisceration of those who have disrespected him – Rick Barnes included!

The center racked up 40 points on 13-of-21 shooting while also connecting on 14-of-22 free throw attempts. He added 16 rebounds to secure that double-double and had a key block at the end of the game to deny a Tennessee comeback.

Zach Edey scored 18 of the Boilermakers’ final 23 points to help his team buck the trend of early March Madness exits. In his three previous seasons, Edey’s teams were a combined 2-3, failing to advance past the Sweet 16 and losing to opponents seeded 13th, 15th, and 16th.

He made it a point to spurn that narrative in a fiery postgame interview.

“They thought they knew us… I promise you, they didn’t. We’re f—– WINNERS. It’s what we do!”

That energy continued into his press conference.

Zach Edey called out Rick Barnes for looking over him during recruitment.

The big man was a rated a three-star prospect by 24/7 in its class of 2020 recruits. The nation’s 75th-best center, he committed to Purdue over offers from Baylor and Western Kentucky.

Despite his massive size, many major college basketball programs looked elsewhere when targeting talent in the post. One of those schools was Tennessee, and Edey hasn’t forgotten the snub.

“There were so many coaches that looked over me,” Edey said. “Name a program and I can name a program that looked over me. Tennessee – Rick Barnes is a great coach, but he was in a bunch of our practices, and looked over me. It’s kind of been the story of my life.”

That three-star prospect is now a National Player of the Year, and he’s on his way to the Final Four for the first time. He’s hoping to finish the job with a national championship.