It was time to awaken the 7-foot-4 sleeping giant. At least nationally.

In West Lafayette, Indiana, junior Zach Edey had already made a name for himself. He was an All-Big Ten performer primed for a big season.

But still, the dominant Purdue center known to carry a chip on his shoulder since coming to college as a three-star recruit, was being slept on.

Purdue assistant coach Brandon Brantley was casually watching television one day before the season when he saw members of a sports tv show rank their top five big men heading into the 2022-23 season. Edey’s name was not on the list. Brantley rewound his TV, recorded the segment and sent it over to Edey in a text message.

“I knew he was pissed off,” Brantley told The Commercial Appeal. “When he’s pissed off, he just hits you with the ‘OK,’ but that OK has so much fire behind it.”

As the saying goes, the rest was history. Edey went on to put up two of the most dominant basketball seasons of the past decade to close out his collegiate career en route to becoming the ninth overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies.

Brantley cautioned those in Memphis to become aware of the chip that Edey carries onto his shoulder. He came to Purdue as a “project,” Brantley said. Now he’s coming to Memphis as a center facing questions of how his game willtransition to modern NBA basketball.

Many NBA centers are forced to watch from the bench in the closing minutes of games while teams go smaller. Edey’s ability to play in space defensively will be a critical factor in how he stacks up in those situations.

“They’re just not going to let Zach switch off and get cooked the whole game,” Brantley said. “It doesn’t work like that. It’s five-on-five.”

After Edey was drafted, Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman said Memphis can be the team that forces the opponent to adjust by keeping Edey in the game and allowing him to dissect mismatches.

Two areas of Edey’s game stand out as ways the Memphis big can do just that in his rookie season.

The patented hook shot

As the coach who works closely with post players at Purdue, Brantley saw the transformation in real time. Edey’s unstoppable hook shot over each shoulder was fine tuned through a relentless amount of reps. After each practice, Edey would do right- and left-handed hook shots around the paint and keep count of his makes. If he missed one, he’d go down a number.

“Him doing this routine everyday would be like the equivalent of me and you brushing our teeth every day,” Brantley said. “He takes 12-foot hook shots and makes them like it’s nothing.”

That same hook shot already has caught the eye of Grizzlies players. Namely, the guy who will mostly be passing Edey the ball. Ja Morant, worked out with Edey for a week in Dallas, and that was all it took for the Grizzlies star to proclaim Edey as the next NBA Rookie of the Year.

That hook shot is a major reason.

“Obviously he’s 7-4, but his touch, he was shooting the ball very well,” Morant said. “Rookie of the year is pretty much all I can say.”

Rebounding with a purpose

So much talk around Edey centers around his potential physical limitations at 7-4 and nearly 300 pounds. He may have skills from college that remain questioned on how they’ll translate to the next level, but according to Brantley, rebounding isn’t one of those.

Considering that rebounding is a major emphasis in the Grizzlies’ system, Brantley’s confidence in Edey’s rebounding ability is a good sign. When the Grizzlies were playing their best basketball under coach Taylor Jenkins, they were the best rebounding team in the NBA. That may be a tall task for Edey in year one, but he’s the kind of rebounder that should get them back near the top to the league.

“Memphis is going to have a dude in that paint that’s going to hold that paint down,” Brantley said. “Usually guys that size will try to rebound their area. He rebounds outside of his area. It means something to him.”

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Purdue coach explains Zach Edey's fit with with Memphis Grizzlies