Toronto's Zach Edey withdraws from Canadian men's basketball team ahead of Olympics
![Zach Edey Purdue center Zach Edey (15) leaves the courier their loss against UConn in the NCAA college Final Four championship basketball game, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (The Canadian Press/AP-David J. Phillip)](/content/dam/cp24/en/images/2024/6/30/zach-edey-1-6947155-1719788724419.jpg)
Zach Edey will not be competing for Canada's men's basketball team at the upcoming Paris Olympics.
The seven-foot-four centre released a statement on his decision to withdraw from participating in training camp on Sunday.
Edey completed his senior season with Purdue, having fallen short in the NCAA national title game to UConn in early April before moving on to prepare for the NBA draft process. He was drafted ninth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the draft on Wednesday.
“I have made the difficult decision of pulling myself out of the process to compete for a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with Canada," the Toronto native said. "Since last summer, I have been training and competing nonstop to achieve my goals of winning a national championship at Purdue and making it to the NBA.
"I have a duty now to properly prepare for all that is coming my way with being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. The work I put in this summer on my body and my game is critical for me to be the best version of myself."
Canada men's general manager Rowan Barrett expressed his support of Edey in a statement Sunday.
"While we were optimistic about having Zach join 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 a future training camp and wish him the best of luck preparing for next season.”
Barrett had pointed to Edey being a question mark on the opening day of training camp on Friday. The big man wasn't on the floor and Barrett wasn't certain at that time of whether Edey would participate.
"I'm in conversation with his agent and with Memphis, it looks like they're bringing him in town today," Barrett told reporters on Friday. "The draft now being two days as opposed to one kind of pushes it a day.
"So they're gonna go in, have their conversations with him and amongst themselves and then I'll be hearing from (Grizzlies GM) Zach Kleiman in just a bit."
Edey was a back-to-back Naismith player of the year winner at Purdue.
He also competed for Canada at the FIBA World Cup last summer, helping the team win its first-ever medal at the event with bronze.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6947618.1719864087!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Flash flooding in B.C. Interior affects at least 20 homes, emergency officials say
At least 20 homes have been affected by flash flooding in the British Columbia Interior following heavy rains that forced the overnight closure of the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops.
Fire at gas metering station sparks grass fire that shut Alberta highway
Yellowhead County in west-central Alberta says a fire that prompted the closure of a major highway west of Edmonton involved a gas metering station.
These ultraprocessed foods may shorten your life, study says
Eating higher levels of ultraprocessed food may shorten lifespans by more than 10 per cent, according to a new, unpublished study of over 500,000 people whom researchers followed for nearly three decades.
Eddie Murphy is still stung by that David Spade joke on 'Saturday Night Live'
Eddie Murphy is reflecting on some of the “cheap shots” he feels he’s taken over the years.
If you qualify for this tax credit, you can expect a payment in your bank account this week
The next quarterly GST/HST tax credit payment is expected to go out this week, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Judge calls Jeffrey Epstein 'most infamous pedophile in American history' as he releases transcripts
A Florida judge released Monday afternoon the transcripts of a 2006 grand jury investigation that looked into sex trafficking and rape allegations made against the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. Supreme Court rules Trump has immunity for official, not private acts
The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for any actions that were within his constitutional powers as president, but can for private acts, in a landmark ruling recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
This 12-year-old memorized the periodic table at age two. He's heading to NYU after finishing high school in just two years
Recent high school graduate Suborno Isaac Bari, 12, plans to start studying math and physics at New York University in the fall, but he’s already got his ambitious sights set on beginning a doctoral program.
Possible indecent gesture at Euro 2024 game under investigation
England star Jude Bellingham is being investigated by UEFA over a potentially offensive gesture made during a European Championship win against Slovakia.