Marquette Golden Eagles point guard Tyler Kolek is getting prepared for the 2024 NBA Draft. He was participating in NBA Draft combine workouts over the past week in Chicago, Illinois. Kolek has been projected to go anywhere from the late first round to the early second round.
Kolek spoke to the media during the NBA combine. He has been facing some tough competition throughout the course of the week and also during the 2023-2024 college basketball season.
Marquette Golden Eagles Point Guard Tyler Kolek Praises Two-Time National Player Of the Year Zach Edey
When Kolek met with the media, he had some interesting to say about Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey. Edey won the National Player of the Year in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. Edey helped Purdue get the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons.
The Boilermakers were able to get to the Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona this season. Purdue made it to the National Championship game before losing to the UCONN Huskies. UCONN won back-to-back tournaments and it was the first team in college basketball to accomplish that feat since the Florida Gators in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. In the title game, he scored 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Marquette also faced Purdue during the 2023-2024 season in the Maui Tournament. Kolek said about Edey at the NBA combine:
“The guy might be the best college player in the past 20 years. People that are criticizing him don’t really know what they are talking about at the end of the day.”
Zach Edey played in 39 games this past season for head coach Matt Painter. He averaged 25.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 2.0 APG, 2.2 BPG, and 0.3 SPG. Edey also shot 71.1% from the free-throw line. He also shot 50.0% from three-point land and 62.3% from the field.
Zach Edey is 7’4″ and weighs 300 lbs. He is one of the most polarizing prospects in the entire 2024 NBA Draft. Edey is projected to be a first-round selection, but it will be interesting to see which team takes a flyer on him.
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has Boilermakers Edey going to the New York Knicks 25th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. The reasoning he gave was as follows:
“Assuming the Knicks re-sign Isaiah Hartenstein, they’d still have Mitchell Robinson on the roster and wouldn’t really need a big. But Edey would provide immense size and interior scoring that would give them another style of big in the rotation.”
Some people would think that Edey could be a steal with that selection. It is quite possible that he will go earlier than that in the 2024 NBA Draft.
