Zach Edey did all that he could, but it wasn't enough for Purdue basketball to beat UConn in the National Championship on Monday night, with the Huskies winning 75-60. Edey dropped 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as he went toe to toe with Donovan Clingan, a projected high pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

While there's been no shortage of criticism of Edey's ceiling at the next level, it's impossible to look past his brilliance in college. His head coach, Matt Painter, firmly believes that the big man must be in the GOAT conversation when people talk about NCAA greats.

Via ESPN:

“When you look at his numbers against the greats, there is no question he's in the conversation,” coach Matt Painter said. “But he's also the winningest player at Purdue. We won our league in back-to-back years [2023, 2024] by multiple games. It's the first time that's happened in the Big Ten since I was in kindergarten. We got to the [national] championship game after having a disappointing loss [in last year's NCAA tournament]. He got to a Sweet 16. He went to four [NCAA] tournaments. I think that's always what kind of separates everybody.”

A fantastic season for Zach Edey

Edey is in line to win his second consecutive Wooden Award, which is given to the best player in college basketball. Ralph Sampson Jr is the only other player to win the prestigious award twice. Edey ultimately averaged a whopping 29.5 points per game in March Madness. That's also the second-most in the history of the tournament.

Overall in 2023-24, the Canadian-born center averaged 25.2 points and 12.2 boards per night. Following the loss to UConn, Edey was eternally grateful for Painter giving him an opportunity to play division one basketball four years ago when many others overlooked his talent:

“[Painter] is someone who just gave me a chance,” Edey said. “I've been trying for four years to pay him back for that. He believed in me when not a lot of people believed in me. He gave me the ball. Not a lot of coaches did that. Not a lot of coaches trusted me in that role.”

Despite balling out in the final, Zach Edey did have a cold stretch against UConn where he struggled to score the rock and he was critical of himself for that:

“I've just got to play better,” he said. “This is one of those games where I can't go through stretches where I'm not effective. I had a few of those stretches today and that was the game.”

Teammate Mason Gillis called Edey a “generational player”:

“He's a generational player,” Purdue forward Mason Gillis said. “I don't know if there will ever be another 7-foot-4 guy that dominates the way he does. I think Purdue should not take for granted what they were able to watch for four years. His development was for the fans. For Purdue. He wanted to bring success and raise the Purdue name. He just wanted to win and fight. And that's what we did.”

Traditional big men don't exactly thrive in the NBA anymore, so it's hard to believe Zach Edey will be a star in the Association. But, he silenced the doubters once in college, maybe he'll do it again. Edey will likely be a second-round pick in the draft. If he wants to succeed in the league though, Edey must learn how to defend the perimeter and also develop a three-point shot.