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Zach Edey, Dan Dakich and Elon Musk walk into a bar … or, a Twitter tall tale

Alex Hickey

By Alex Hickey

Published:

Welcome to 2023.

Generally speaking, “welcome to (fill in the year)” is a trite and cliche way to describe anything. But there’s really no better way of labeling the briefly chaotic hour — if even that long — that multiple people on Twitter were duped into thinking Purdue center Zach Edey is entering the transfer portal because he couldn’t get a big enough NIL deal to stay with the Boilermakers.

The whole scenario was a signature “only in 2023” moment. And it’s probably only going to get worse. But more on that later.

Let’s catch you up in case you were actually working when all of this was happening. Or taking a nap.

A Twitter account pretending to be ESPN college basketball insider Jeff Borzello claimed that Edey was heading to the transfer portal because he was “seeking a massive NIL number and didn’t think that was attainable in West-Lafayette.”

There are a number of things that should have tipped off anyone who was actually paying attention.

Like the fact this person’s Twitter handle was not @jeffborzello, but @pelsyear. Or the weird choice to hyphenate West-Lafayette as if there are twin cities of West and Lafayette. A professional writer isn’t going to make such a basic grammatical mistake. You would hope.

Nonetheless, people were duped. Even 1 of Borzello’s co-workers, Adam Rittenberg, initially retweeted the statement.

But no one bit harder than Dan Dakich.

For those who are blessedly unaware, Dakich is perhaps the most polarizing member of the college basketball media.

This is amusing in itself, because Dakich has long claimed that he isn’t a member of the media. In his mind, his former life as a player and coach somehow exempts him from being classified by his current job description.

Dakich, who was an insightful color commentator in his decade working for ESPN, left the network in 2021. One of his complaints was that Dick Vitale was assigned better games.

“It’s not a meritocracy, and I like meritocracy,” he said at the time, which coincided with launching his new radio show.

Dakich must not have received the memo that the E in ESPN stands for “Entertainment,” which is the essence of the institution that is Dickie V, or that seniority is a factor in every workplace, but that’s neither here nor there.

Point is a lot of people love it when someone as outspoken as Dakich is made to look a fool. And his tweet itself is a pretty good example of why that’s the case.

Instead of quote-tweeting the fake Borzello account, Dakich took the step of saying “his people” were telling him that Edey was heading into the transfer portal. When it’s now quite obvious “his person” is some random, made-up internet character called “Pels Year.”

That by itself is a lot of egg to put on one’s own face. But as a 7-4 guy is wont to do, Edey further hammered that point home by dunking on Dakich.

Literally 4 minutes after Dakich’s tweet, Edey put an emphatic end to the matter.

This, of course, doesn’t mean he’ll be back at Purdue next season. The far more likely outcome for Edey would be to enter the NBA Draft rather than the transfer portal. Which is yet another clue that should have tipped people off to the fact that something was off about the tweet that started this whole mess.

But in a way, this episode is a positive experience for consumers of information. People who don’t like Dakich will get a good chuckle from his error. But at some point, someone they do like is going to make the same mistake.

In coming months, Twitter vigilance will be an absolute necessity.

A harbinger of New Twitter chaos

The most obvious tell that the real Jeff Borzello didn’t tweet anything about Zach Edey, other than everything that’s already been noted, was the lack of a blue checkmark.

This is how you know a tweet is coming from the person who it claims to be, which seems vitally important for media members and those who are well-known.

For example, Edey and Dakich.

Effective April 15, that security blanket is leaving Twitter. There will be no more blue checkmarks — unless you pay $7 a month. And all that does is verify that you’re paying $7 a month, not that you’ve cleared any vetting process.

In the infinite wisdom of Twitter owner Elon Musk, it’s about treating everyone equally. Except for those willing to pay for better treatment.

Hey man, you bought the party, do what you want.

But fans should be prepared for incidents like “Edey entering the transfer portal” to become a lot more commonplace.

It’s going to be much easier to fool and be fooled in the New Twitter environment. And no doubt athletes like Edey will probably end up dedicating more time to debunking these hoaxes if they gain traction.

The lesson here: Pay close attention to details before regurgitating false information. Or you might just end up with a 7-4 guy dunking on you.

Alex Hickey

Alex Hickey is an award-winning writer who has watched Big Ten sports since it was a numerically accurate description of league membership. Alex has covered college football and basketball since 2008, with stops on the McNeese State, LSU and West Virginia beats before being hired as Saturday Tradition's Big Ten columnist in 2021. He is an Illinois native and 2004 Indiana University graduate.