Minnesota gained another recruiting prospect in the 2020 Class this past Wednesday. Zach Edey, a 7-foot-3 center out of Toronto, reclassified from the 2021 group. The Gophers are one of two high major offers along with Baylor for the center who now attends IMG Academy in Florida. He also has others from Santa Clara, Tulane and Western Kentucky.
The combination of a move to the senior class as well as the newfound exposure he will get at a powerhouse like IMG could lead to his recruitment taking off within the next few months.
Edey played his travel ball with the Northern Kings program of the Under Armour Rise circuit. Vidal Massiah coaches the Kings' 17U squad. He was a go-to guy for The Gopher Report in the past when Richard Pitino and his staff recruited and signed one of their former point gaurds, Marcus Carr. We also interviewed him a few weeks ago about another 2020 recruit who plays with his program, Kobe Elvis.
Masssiah once again filled us in on one of his rising recruits.
Q: Zach Edey just reclassified from the 2021 Class to 2020. Tell us the thought process behind that.
Massiah: "I think kind of evaluating him not only as a basketball player but him as a person, and speaking with his parents and learning a lot more about what he has learned, they figured that although another year at the high school level as a post graduate student would be beneficial in his development as a basketball player, but they thought it wasn't the best thing for his holistic development. That was kind of what they were looking at. With that in mind, it was time to move him up and get him ready for college while keeping him in a very challenging and professional environment. That would mimic what he is getting at IMG. They feel like those resources and that professional approach at a higher level is probably better suited for their son."
Q: Tell us about him. Is he really 7-foot-3?
Massiah: "He's a legit 7-3. He's only been playing basketball for a year and a half. He transitioned over from high level baseball and hockey. He's got all of those transferrable skills. Where most kids at an early age start to specialize, he's rare in that sense that he's a multi-sport athlete that's picked up basketball fairly late. He is an athlete. That can't go unnoticed. Although he played different sports, he did develop different muscle groups and different abilities whether it be touch or feel. Every sport has their unique quality. That's what I tend to focus on, and that's why the coaches are after him. They are focusing on the room for improvement, because there are tons of room for improvement, but there are so many things that he does well now."
Q: I'm trying to picture a 7-foot-3 baseball player. Did he hit a growth spurt or has he always been big?
Massiah: "He's always been big. He's always been tall. It's very much a Canadian story. If he's in any other market around the world that's big into basketball, he's probably scooped up at an early age and would stream into being a professional basketball player. He's always been tall. He's always stood out. From that standpoint, he's just kind of gone undiscovered in basketball. As big as this city is, and as small of a basketball community as it is, he kind of slipped through the cracks so to speak. That's an intriguing story that I would say is unique to this market in terms of someone of his profile going under the radar."
Q: Going to on the floor, how good is he right now?
Massiah: "He's good. He's good right now. He impacts the game defensively at a very high level. Again, he's played high level baseball, so understand the pressures and the spotlight so to speak at a certain level. He really understands that his role and his job will probably be task oriented. So he has no problem into buying into a job: setting hard screens and getting guys open, rebounding ball at a high level, blocking shots, protecting the rim, running the floor. He's very easy to coach because he understands that these things have value outside of hitting a three and having a post move which all players want to do. He's working hard on that and he's actually really improved. In his post game on the left block he has a really soft touch over the left shoulder. He's got a good shot out to about fifteen feet. Eventually he's going to work his way out to three's. He's shooting three's in practice. So you're talking about a skilled player who is a year and a half into developing more and more skills while having a huge impact on defense, on having a presence on the glass, on blocking shots, setting screens. He's not some stiff that's a long and uncoordinated kid. Zach can play and he's going to be good because he's developing skills and not because he's tall."
Q: When gets to college he will only have two and a half years under his belt. Can he have an early impact or will he have to wait a couple of more years before hitting his spurt?
Massiah: "I've learned enough about the kid not to sell him short. Just his level of play a year into it is astonishing to be honest with you. I've been working in basketball for a very long time after playing, and normally it takes a while for kids to learn, and understand, and get a feel, and have thing slow down where they can process things. Obviously, he still has room for growth in all of those things. I'm not going to underestimate him after he has improved so dramatically in a short period of time. I think that's in large part because his parents are thinking let's keep him in environments where he's forced to grow, forced to learn and adapt. On the offensive end, screening is a big deal, and he's a big screen that can gets guys open. He can roll and suck the defense in, and at that point you can find your shooters. There's more than one way to utilize him, and I think for the right coach with the right system he does have an impact right away. He's got to better physically, but he has enough now to get to get the job and go from there."
Q: Minnesota and Baylor have offered. Who else is talking to him?
Massiah: "TCU, Tulsa and Georgia Tech have called, Santa Clara has offered, Tulane and Western Kentucky offered, Harvard has hit him up about his grades. They are interested. I think with him reclassing, as word spreads he's probably going to shoot up the depth charts. If he wasn't on your list as someone you were looking at as word spreads in 2020, he's kind of no-brainer to look at and investigate further."
Q: How much will IMG's exposure help his recruitment?
Massiah: "He's gotten a decent amount of exposure, but only with a year and a half of experience, there's only so much you can be exposed to. With him making the national team, and that's the route he is on down there at IMG, that's like a traveling rock band. Everybody is going to see him at different venues. It can't hurt him. It definitely can't hurt his recruitment. It's probably going to have an impact as well on his growth as a player. Being exposed to the game, to travel. They have a college-type system down there at IMG so he's at the highest level he could be at this point."
Q: Tell us about Minnesota's involvement.
Massiah: "They saw him early and got involved. They've been watching him and tracking him ever since. They're one of the earlier schools to offer. Once you see him, he's kind of hard to miss. For me it's just a no-brainer. If I'm a college coach, you've got to recruit this kid. He's one of the biggest kids on planet earth in a tall game. He's got skill and he's got time. He's got a body on him and he's got a mentality. They've learned about all of that stuff. They've been connected to our program through Marcus (Carr). They've been steady with their approach. I think moreso kind of planning a 2021 date. Now that it's 2020, I expect them to kind of pick things up and go even harder."
Q: Because of the date of the reclass and going through the season at IMG, do you think this is going to be a spring decision?
Massiah: "That wasn't the plan obviously that factored into why he made this move. Right now, I think the goal is the Early Signing Period with the thought in mind that things can change. If a bunch of schools get involved and the parents like what they're saying, and they need more time to evaluate it, then I think you have to be open minded enough to understand that timing is a big deal, and they will have to take their time and do their due diligence. It could very well turn into that, but that is not the mindset going into it.
