Zach Edey is the 2023-24 AP Player of the Year in men’s college basketball.

On Friday, the Associated Press named Purdue’s star big man the Player of the Year in college basketball for a second consecutive season. Edey garnered 57 of the 62 votes for the award, with Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht receiving 3 votes and Houston’s Jamal Shead getting 2. The honor makes Edey the first player since Ralph Sampson (Virginia, 1981-83) to win back-to-back AP Player of the Year awards.

This season, Edey has been unstoppable. Ahead of the Final Four, the 7-foot-4 center is averaging 25 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 62% from the field and 71% from the free throw line. Edey leads all Division I players in points per game, PER (39.7), win shares per 40 minutes (.342), and box plus/minus (+16.7).

On Thursday, when Purdue coach Matt Painter met with reporters to preview Purdue’s game with NC State, he reflected on Edey’s recruitment a bit. A 7-footer from IMG Academy, Edey was lightly recruited. His only scholarship offers were from Purdue, Western Kentucky, and Baylor.

Painter recalled a conversation about redshirting as a freshman — something Edey didn’t want to do — and said he had a sense Edey was leaning toward Baylor. But Painter told Edey if he wanted to play, come to West Lafayette and win a job.

“I was somebody who thought that he was going to be a really good player. I just didn’t know when he was going to be a really good player,” Painter said. “I didn’t know he was going to be this, I’ll tell you that. Somebody averages 3 in high school, you don’t think they’re going to be a 2-time national Player of the Year.”

Edey was a difference maker as a sophomore when he started 33 games, but he wasn’t this. As a junior last season, he averaged 22 and 13 to help lead Purdue to a Big Ten championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He swept all 6 major national POY awards — The Wooden Award, The Naismith Award, The Big O Trophy, NABC National Player of the Year, the AP National Player of the Year, and The Sporting News National Player of the Year.

And he became the first player in NCAA history with 750 points, 400 rebounds, 70 blocks, and 50 assists in a single season. (Edey did it again in 2023-24.)

But the dream season quickly became a nightmare when Purdue crashed out of the field in the opening round.

This season, Edey and the Boilermakers have been better. They boat-raced their opening-round opponent and now find themselves in the Final Four for the first time since 1980. Edey scored a career-high 40 points to go with 16 boards in the Elite Eight win over Tennessee to officially secure Purdue’s spot in the national semifinal.

According to the AP, Edey is the first national scoring leader to take his team to the Final Four since Oscar Robertson led Cincinnati to the semifinals in 1960.

“There was a good guard at Indiana named Yogi Ferrell, and I always used to complain he was carrying the basketball. At the end of the day, I just deep down didn’t think we could guard him. That’s all it was,” Painter said this week. “I always complained about him. I just finally caught myself one day and said, ‘I need to shut up.’ I’m losing a lot of respect with these officials because he’s not doing anything differently than anybody else except that he’s just better than everybody else.

“I think Zach gets a lot of that. He gets a lot of flack from that. But I’ve always said that for people that understand basketball, and people that have to guard him, coaches that have to go against him, it’s a chore. It’s a chore.”

During the NCAA Tournament, Edey is averaging 30 points and 16.3 rebounds a game. He’s been so dominant, DraftKings is currently running a prop bet for the Final Four where bettors can wager on who will score more points in their team’s Final Four game — Edey (+250) or Iowa star Caitlin Clark (-350).

Edey and the Boilermakers take the court Saturday night at 6:09 p.m. ET on TBS. Purdue is seeking its first national championship of the NCAA Tournament era.