ZACH Edey's parents never forced him to play sports, but they've played a critical role in shaping the accomplished player into the college star he is today.
Like any athlete, college basketball player Zach Edey needs a strong support system, and his parents are more than happy to step up.
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Who are Zach Edey’s parents?
Zach Edey is the son of Glen and Julia Edey, both of whom come from sports backgrounds.
Edey's father, Glen, is a former baseball and ice hockey player.
He currently works as an assistant coach for a baseball youth league.
Unlike his son, who towers above him, Glen stands at a modest 5-foot-8.
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Edey's mother, Julia, is a former basketball player.
Born in Canada to Chinese immigrant parents, Julia grew up playing the sport while balancing her studies.
She was a mechanical engineer but retired shortly before Edey began his career as a member of the Purdue Boilermakers basketball team.
According to their friends and family, Julia is also an avid gardener and beekeeper.
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Though she may seem short compared to Edey, Julia's height also made her a powerhouse on the basketball court – she's 6-foot-3.
Edey isn't Glen and Julia's only child, either.
The duo are also parents to Doug Edey, Zach's younger brother.
Doug is also a rising basketball player and a student at Toronto's Leaside High School.
While both his parents are often spotted at Purdue University for his basketball games, Julia has attended nearly every single one of his games.
She even reportedly gives away T-shirts to Edey's fans before, during, and after games, adorned with his nickname, the "Big Maple."
Julia also posts about her son's accomplishments on her social media pages, including her X, formerly Twitter, account.
She even notably attended the ESPY Awards with her son back in June 2023.
"We are here!!! Red carpet love for Purdue," she tweeted, alongside a golden yellow and black heart emojis.
What has Zach Edey said about his family?
Zach Edey has been extremely open about what his parents mean to him, especially as he continues to rise in the basketball world.
"A lot of people look at their moms as kind of like their rocks in their life and I'm the same way," Edey told The Canadian Press.
Edey also spoke about how his basketball skills helped his mom retire early.
"She retired going into my freshman year of college. That was always kind of our deal," he said.
"She had said, basically, if I get a D1 scholarship then financially, she could retire. That kind of was a big reason why I wanted to get one of those scholarships."
"It's obviously been great," he added.
Edey initially wanted to secure a scholarship playing college baseball, but his towering height made it difficult to continue playing the sport.
"We did not push our kids into any sport," Julia Edey, Zach's mom, said.
"Zach's dad and I had said 'If he's supposed to play basketball, it will find him,'" she added.
Still, when her son secured a spot on the Purdue Boilermakers team, she knew she wasn't missing a minute of the action.
"It meant a lot to him getting that scholarship knowing that he could help give me those options and it meant a lot to me," she said.
"I was thinking, I'm not missing a second of this," she added.
Still, the road to success wasn't always easy.
Edey recalls being homesick after transferring from his Toronto high school to play basketball at IMG Academy, located in Bradenton, Florida.
"I'd say the first few months were really hard on me," Zach said.
"I remember the turning point for me was around Thanksgiving [and]Christmas."
"Thanksgiving was really, really hard. I didn't want to go back [to IMG]at all."
"Christmas was a little easier to go back to school. Slowly but surely it got a little easier and I definitely am glad I did it," he added.
Julia remembers telling her son that no matter what he chose to do, she would be there for him.
"I said to Zach, 'I just want to make sure you don't have any regrets,"' Julia said.
"You can try and if it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen.You don't need to do this, but it depends if you want it."
After becoming one of the most decorated athletes in college basketball history, the hard work seems to have paid off.
"Being able to play hard and play through success, it's something that really I think I've developed," Edey said.
"Being able to be on the scene that's been so successful and then have success for myself already, I've been able to stay level-headed through success," he added.
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Who is Zach Edey?
Zach Edey is a Canadian college basketball player.
He was born on May 14, 2002, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Edey grew up playing ice hockey and baseball.
He only set his sights on basketball after his staggering 7-foot-4 height made it impractical to play other sports, impacting his ability to play.
Edey began playing basketball as a sophom*ore at Leaside High School, before moving to the United States to attend the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
After he was named a three-star recruit, he reclassified to the class of 2020 and committed to playing college basketball at Purdue University.
The Purdue Boilermakers basketball team is an NCAA Division One program and a founding member of the Big 10 Conference.
While at Purdue, Edey became one of the most decorated college basketball players of all time.
He's won numerous awards and accolades during his college years, including:
- National College Player of the Year (2023)
- Big Ten Tournament MVP (2023)
- Pete Newell Big Man Award (2023)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (2023)
- Consensus first-team All-American (2023)
- First-team All American (2024)
- Big Ten Player of the Year (2023, 2024)
- First-team All-Big Ten (2023, 2024)
- Second-team All-Big Ten (2022)
- Big Ten All-Defensive Team (2023, 2024)
- Big Ten All-Freshman Team (2021)
Edey also holds a number of records at Purdue, including:
- The tallest player in Big Ten history
- 55th player in Purdue history to reach 1,000 career points (December 17, 2022)
- 11th player in Purdue history to reach 100 career blocks (December 17, 2022)
- 2nd player in Purdue history to reach 1,000 career rebounds (January 5, 2024)
- Surpassed 2,000 collegiate career points (January 28, 2024)
- Achieved 200 career blocks, 55 double-doubles, and scored in double figures for the 74th consecutive game (February 4, 2024)
- Holds the record for rebounds at Purdue with 1,178 (February 18, 2024)
On February 26, 2024, Edey announced that he would not be using his extra year of eligibility to return to Purdue for the 2024-25 season.
On April 23, 2024, Zach Edey officially entered the 2024 NBA Draft.
He told ESPN, "I felt like it was time. I showed that I'm a physical presence on offense this season,"
"I also showed I can play defense. I can guard in space, even defend guards," he added.
ESPN is projecting him to be a first-round draft pick and number 14 overall.
Beyond college basketball, Edey also competes for the Canadian senior men's national team.
He was selected to compete in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup by coach Jordi Fernández, becoming the only college player on the team.
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Canada won the bronze medal over the US in the third-place game, giving Canada its first-ever World Cup medal.
It was also the country's first major medal at a global tournament since the 1936 Summer Olympics.
