By this point, every college hoops (and general hoops) fan should know that Purdue star center Zach Edey is a very large man. He looks head and shoulders (literally) above everyone else in NCAA Division 1 men's basketball, and not a lot of players can compete with his physical stature alone. Only one other player is known to be taller than him – Ole Miss' 7-foot-5 slotman Jamarion Sharp.
Zach Edey is not just a tall basketball player, but a tall human in general – and not a lot of people have a perspective on just how big he really is.
What size shoe does Zach Edey wear?
Zach Edey wears size 20 sneakers – yes, you read that right (via ESPN). To put that shoe size in perspective, the average adult man's shoe size in the US is 10.5. This means that Edey's feet are almost twice as long as any average-sized male adult in America. Furthermore, that immense shoe size does come with a host of issues for the Purdue star center.
Simply put, it's absolutely hard to find ordinary shoes that come in that size, let alone basketball sneakers. No other common sneaker model from renowned manufacturers carries a size like that. As a result, Edey has been only able to hoop in one specific model: the Nike Zoom Rize. Most notably, the Zoom Rize has seemed to be a preferred sneaker model for other exceptionally tall big men in basketball – former UCF center Tacko Fall, who was listed at 7-foot-6, comes into mind.
Here's a YouTube video that talks specifically about Edey and his immense shoe size, and just how almost impossible it is to find:
For now, even if Purdue is a well-known Nike-sponsored school, it seems like Edey's sneaker size issues have still gone unanswered by the multi-billion-dollar company (via HammerAndRails.com).
Is Zach Edey 7-foot-4?
While always portrayed as being 7-foot-4, Edey's real (and officially measured) height is just a tad below that at 7-foot-3.25 without shoes. This was measured at the 2023 NBA draft combine, held back in May of last year (via CBS Sports).
With Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama (who was slightly taller than him at 7-foot-3.5) out of the combine last year due to already being a pro, Edey was the tallest player among the attendees. Aside from that, he was also the heaviest (as expected) weighing in at a massive 306.4 lbs and possessing a wingspan just shy of 7-foot-11.
Has Zach Edey ever made a 3?
So far, he hasn't. In a game against Eastern Kentucky last December, the Boilermakers big man attempted his first-ever 3-pointer while his team was up by 30. It went just about how everybody (except perhaps Purdue fans) expected it for the young center:
He jokingly reacted that with the miss, he can no longer say that he never missed from beyond the arc. But this doesn't mean he can't shoot 3s, as he's been taking them in practice – and making them.
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