College basketball's reigning National Player of the Year will be back in the Big Ten in 2023-24.
Purdue Center Zach Edey, who averaged 22.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game this past year for the regular-season and conference tournament champion Boilermakers, announced on social media he will withdraw his name from NBA draft consideration and return to West Lafayette.
RUN IT BACK pic.twitter.com/oJfQTbX6SP
— zach (@zach_edey) June 1, 2023
On top of sweeping six National Player of the Year honors in 2022-23, Edey was also named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American. Edey averaged 24.7 points per game in three wins over the Buckeyes this past season, including a 32-point performance in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal victory that effectively ended Ohio State's season.
Two games later, though, Edey and the Boilermakers became the second-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament to be eliminated by a No. 16 seed in the first round. Fairleigh Dickinson shocked the Boilermakers in a 63-58 win at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on March 17.
As it turns out, that won't be the final image of Edey in a college uniform.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, star Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. will return for the Fighting Illini. Shannon was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in his first year with the program after transferring in from Texas Tech, averaging 17.2 points per game for Illinois in 2022-23.
— Terrence Shannon Jr (@Sn1per_T) June 1, 2023
The Illini will also have forward Coleman Hawkins back in the fold next season. The 6-foot-10, 200-pound big man averaged 9.9 points, 6.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game for Illinois in 2022-23.
Coleman Hawkins is withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to Illinois for his senior season, he told ESPN. Big day for Illinois who also retained leading scorer TJ Shannon. pic.twitter.com/M6uLY2t9rW
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 1, 2023
