Zach Edey retires from Canada’s men’s basketball team ahead of the Olympics

Zach Edey will not compete for Canada’s men’s basketball team at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

The 7-foot-4 center released a statement regarding his decision to withdraw from training camp on Sunday.

Edey finished his senior season with Purdue after sitting out the NCAA national title game with UConn in early April before moving on to prepare for the NBA draft process. He was selected ninth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in Wednesday’s draft.

“I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the process to compete for a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics with Canada,” said the Toronto native. “Since last summer, I have been training and competing non-stop to achieve my goals of winning a national championship at Purdue and making it to the NBA.

“It’s my job now to properly prepare myself for whatever comes my way as the Memphis Grizzlies recruit. The work I’ve put in this summer on my body and my game is essential to being the best version of my.”

Canada Men’s General Manager Rowan Barrett voiced his support for Edey in a statement Sunday.

“While we were optimistic about Zach joining us in training camp, we understand and support him in this difficult decision,” he said. “On behalf of Canada Basketball, I would like to congratulate him on being drafted into the NBA.

“We look forward to welcoming him to an upcoming training camp and wish him the best of luck in his preparations for next season.”

Barrett indicated that Edey is a question mark on the opening day of training camp on Friday. The big man wasn’t on the floor and Barrett wasn’t sure at the time if Edey would participate.

“I’m in conversation with his agent and Memphis, it looks like they’re going to bring him into town today,” Barrett told reporters Friday. “The representation now is two days, as opposed to kind of pushing a day.

“So they’ll come in, have conversations with him and each other, and then I’ll hear from (Grizzlies general manager) Zach Kleiman shortly.”

Edey was one of the Naismith Year winners at Purdue.

He also competed for Canada at the FIBA ​​World Cup last summer, helping the team win its first medal at the event with bronze.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 30, 2024.

The Canadian Press