"It's a completely different team": $814,000 NIL-valued Zach Edey warns Big Ten rivals ahead of March Madness 2024 

With March Madness just around the corner, there's a ton of pressure for Purdue to finally make it through after bowing out of the tournament for three straight years. But star center Zach Edey has a warning, especially for the Boilermakers' rivals in the Big Ten.

Edey, who's likewise among the most highly valued NIL players in the league with an $814,000 valuation, recently became the only Big Ten player in the last 25 seasons to record 10-straight games with at least 15 points and 10 rebounds. These were among the reasons that the 7-foot-4 slot man recently went on ESPN's SportsCenter for an interview with Scott Van Pelt.

In it, he warned other teams in the conference that this wouldn't be the same squad:

"I feel like it's a completely different team. We have Lance Jones in here now, he gives us kind of a different look. And we have guys that are kinda older. We were the only freshman backcourt last year.

"They know the game more, they've already been through a full season of basketball. I think even though we have the same roster, it's a completely different team."

Zach Edey mentioned senior guard Lance Jones, a transfer from Southern Illinois, being currently their second-best scorer just behind him at 12.8 ppg. As a clear-cut veteran, Jones has been a solid consistent double-figure scorer for most of his collegiate career. His presence should also be a critical part of the locker room atmosphere, considering these guys are still quite young.

With him on the floor, Purdue doesn't have to rely too much on Zach Edey trying to make plays on his own. They have a veritable 1-2 punch on offense right now, and things are looking good for them so far.

A look at Purdue's recent postseason failures

Unfortunately for Boilermakers fans, their team has been unable to exorcise the ghosts of playoff failures thus far. As such, even if they remain among the best teams in the nation, there's also still an asterisk on their potential performance in March Madness.

In each of the last three seasons, Purdue was knocked out of the NCAA tournament by double-digit seed teams. In 2021, they lost to No. 13 North Texas in the first round. The following year, it was the turn of No. 15 St. Peter's in the Sweet Sixteen. Then just last season, they became only the second team in NCAA history to be knocked out by a No. 16 team, losing to Fairleigh Dickinson.