Purdue's Zach Edey says he is playing for Canada at Olympics

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Posted By: jasabacklink June 4, 2024

Zach Edey intends to represent Canada at the Paris Olympics this summer. “Yeah, I’mma be there,” the 7-foot-4 Toronto native said on Tuesday morning after going through a pre-draft workout with his hometown Raptors.

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But first he’ll be watching the NBA draft with friends and family at Purdue, the university he spent four years at, culminating in a trip to the NCAA final this past spring.

“It’s gonna be a special night. It’s going to be a night I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Edey said. “I’m going to do it at Purdue. Will be there with all my teammates, all the faculty, all the staff that really helped me along the way. To be able to celebrate that with them will be special,” he said.

Edey is hoping to hear his name called in the first round on June 26 — he’s a two-time NCAA player of the year after all — but strange things can happen so it’s possible he slips to the second round, which will go on June 27. Either way, he intends to be at camp for Canada which starts at the same time before the team eventually heads to Europe for exhibition games ahead of its first Olympics since 2000 (Edey helped the team win World Cup bronze last summer). It’s not common for rookies to be allowed to play for their national team and skip NBA Summer League, but Edey could be an exception.

Edey would become the first NBA player to hail from midtown Toronto. He was asked Tuesday about representing Leaside High School (which is also the alma mater of author Margaret Atwood and actor Will Arnett).

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“It’s not so much the high school it’s just like growing up in Leaside, like all my buddies everyone,” Edey said. “I got to see them all (recently. “Still stay in contact with everybody. They came out to the Final Four, they came out to my senior night.”

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