NBA fans all say the same thing as 7ft star Zach Edey comes up short to UConn in national championship game

The fairytale ending to Zach Edey’s college basketball career ultimately wasn’t supposed to happen.

The UConn Huskies prevailed in the battle of the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament championship game, defeating the Purdue Boilermakers, 75-60.

The 7-foot-4 giant Edey had an all-time college career, becoming Naismith College’s first repeat Player of the Year winner.

He finished with 37 points and ten rebounds in a valiant but losing effort against Connecticut.

His 37 points were the third most points scored in an NCAA men’s basketball championship game – the most ever by a player on the losing team.

The Canadian big man has already declared for the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft, but is not expected to be a top pick – with some predicting he will finish outside the top 20.

Edey is a returning center who does all of his work inside the paint, and for that reason, some people think he will have a hard time transitioning to the NBA – which is heavily focused on shooting threes points.

Despite another 20-point double-double in the NCAA title game (a record sixth in March Madness), NBA fans online were all saying they didn’t envision Edey being a star of the National Basketball Association.

“I repeat: Edey does NOT impress me, he finally faced someone his size and he was stopped on every possession in the 2nd half. 0-6 to start the half. Yes, that guy is cooked in the NBA,” one fan wrote. .

“This game shows why Edey is going to be set aside in the NBA. Dude will be a G League prodigy at best,” added another.

“It’s a great example of why Edey never got to play in the NBA. Playing against someone his size and he does absolutely nothing. He’s really struggling, and as his team goes down , he becomes less effective. He’s not a basketball player, just an intimidator of teams without bigs,” added a third.

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“Edey is really talented, but there’s no chance he’ll even be a rotation player in the NBA. His inability to play functionally, even in coverage against a pick and roll, is going to make him unplayable at this level. UConn is putting it on full display tonight,” he said. fourth added.

However, not long before, fans were praising Edey for his dominant performance in the first half.

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless were two of his strongest supporters.

Edey scored 11 straight points for Purdue and at one point had 14 of their 23 total points.

He had 16 points and five rebounds at the break as Purdue trailed by six.

He even had a heated exchange with Huskies head coach Dan Hurley.

“Edey is playing POSSESSED. NBA scouts are no doubt IMPRESSED,” Bayless wrote.

Others aren’t ready to count Edey out yet and think he’ll be a solid rotation player in the NBA.

“Zach Edey doesn’t fit the mold of the modern NBA center – low-effort, doesn’t shoot threes – but someone is going to get a good rotation player. His rebounding and touch around the rim are elite,” Chris Mannix from Sports Illustrated published.

Colin Cowherd seemed to agree on his podcast earlier this week.

“7-foot-4 with a really good touch, you can’t tell me there’s not a place for him somewhere in this damn league,” he said.

Edey obviously has very specific skills but which will certainly help certain NBA teams.

We will find out which team will be present in the 2024 draft on June 27.