Zach Edey cuts down net without ladder, gives piece to Gene Keady
Purdue waited a long time to celebrate a return to the Final Four. Zach Edey didn’t have to reach far to acknowledge their achievement, though, at his height of 7’4.
Edey led the Boilermakers to their first Final Four appearance in nearly four and a half decades on Easter with their 72-66 victory over Tennessee. Then, amidst the postgame celebration, Edey ignored the ladder to cut down his portion of the net. He simply reached up to the rim with the scissors and snipped his piece away.
However, the moment got more touching as Edey brought his hands back down. With Gene Keady in attendance, Edey then gave his part of the net to the program’s all-time winningest coach.
Edey put on his best collegiate performance to get Purdue to the Final Four for the first time since 1980. He set a new career-high of 40 points by shooting 13-21 (61.9%) from the field and 14-22 (63.6%) from the free-throw line against the Vols. The reigning, and, eventually, expected two-time, National Player of the Year also posted 16 rebounds and one major rejection of Dalton Knecht late in the contest.
He did so in front of Keady, the team’s last coach before Matt Painter, one of Keady’s former players, began in 2005. Keady coached the Boilermakers for a quarter of a century starting in 1980. In that span, he went 512-270 (.655) and won six regular-season titles while making 17 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
However, only five of those selections reached their regional with just two reaching the Elite Eight. That contributed to the Final Four drought that, as of today, came to an end for Purdue.
Seeing Edey just reach up to cut the net is quite the sight, especially since every other image of that moment is someone on a ladder. However, it went from eye-popping, if not comical, to heartwarming quickly with him commemorating the moment for and with Keady.
Painter cuts down nets as Purdue advances to Final Four
The Purdue Boilermakers and Tennessee Volunteers delivered an absolute classic on Sunday in their Elite Eight showdown in Detroit.
The game was back-and-forth for much of the contest with both teams trading baskets throughout. Both teams got incredible performances from their superstars in Dalton Knecht and Zach Edey. In the end, though, Purdue prevailed in one of the most entertaining games of the tournament.
Then, once the Boilermakers punched their ticket to the Final Four, Purdue got to cut the nets down. As head coach, Matt Painter got to celebrate the historic victory last by climbing the ladder and snipping the final piece.
Purdue became the Midwest Regional Champion with the victory. They’ll now face the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 11 NC State State and No. 4 Duke in Phoenix.