2023 Naismith Awards: Purdue’s Zach Edey named Player of Year

Zach Edey‘s trophy case is filling up.

Purdue‘s star center was named the 2023 Naismith College Player of the Year on Sunday.

Edey has also won AP Player of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year and the Oscar Robertson Trophy for his play this season — 22.3 points and 12.9 rebounds per game on 60.7% shooting.

Check out the rest of the three 2023 Naismith Award winners, along with the Naismith Starting Five below:

Player of the Year: Zach Edey, Purdue

The 7-foot-4 center led the Boilermakers to the No. 1 seed in the East Region before No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson shocked Purdue with an upset in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Edey beat out fellow contenders Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), Jalen Wilson (Kansas) and Drew Timme (Gonzaga) for this year’s highly coveted award.

Coach of the Year: Jerome Tang, Kansas State

Jerome Tang may not have taken home the NCAA Tournament trophy in his first season as head coach for the Wildcats, but he is bringing home the Naismith Coach of the Year award. Tang transformed Kansas State from a losing team the past three seasons into a team that surprised the Big 12 by earning the No. 3 seed in the East Region. The Wildcats advanced all the way to the Elite Eight before ultimately falling to 9-seed Florida Atlantic.

Credit Tang’s magnetic personality, team-centered culture and successful use of the transfer portal for Kansas State’s quick and impressive turnaround this season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Jaylen Clark, UCLA

Clark took home Defensive Player of the Year honors Sunday, becoming the first Bruin to win the award. He also took home the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award earlier this year after leading all Pac-12 players in steals (78).

UCLA allowed the fewest points per game among the Pac-12 teams this year, thanks in large part to Clark. Unfortunately, his season ended early after suffering an Achilles’ injury, which kept him out of both the Pac-12 and NCAA Tournament.

Clark will officially leave the college ranks, as he declared for the 2023 NBA Draft on March 29.

Men’s Starting Five

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame also announced its 2023 Starting Five winners.

Edey, along with Jackson-Davis, Wilson, Marcus Sasser (Houston) and Markquis Nowell (K-State) all earned spots on the best lineup in college basketball.

Here’s the hardware each player took home Sunday:

– Edey: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award
– Jackson-Davis: Karl Malone Award
– Wilson: Julius Erving Award
– Sasser: Jerry West Award
– Nowell: Bob Cousy Award

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