Meet Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 Purdue superstar who 'outgrew' baseball to become the NBA's next big thing

Meet Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 Purdue basketball star

• Edey was a two-time national college basketball player of the year for Purdue
• READ MORE: Knicks 'nearing deal for Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges'

Purdue center Zach Edey was the leading scorer in this year's national championship game and has been dominating teams in the paint seemingly since he started playing college basketball.

The 7-foot-4 big man is on track to be one of the tallest players currently in the NBA - and tied for tenth-tallest in the league's history.

He has the talent to back it up. Edey won the national college player of the year award twice and was the only non-UConn player on the list of the Final Four all-tournament team after the Boilermakers lost to the Huskies in the national championship game.

But Edey valiantly fought for all 37 of his points that Monday night in April and now, he's waiting to see which NBA team decides to take a chance on him.

While Edey waits to find out hwne his name will be called, DailyMail.com takes a look at his development and his college career before Wednesday's NBA Draft.

Growing up in Canada, Edey played plenty of sports including baseball and ice hockey.

Edey once told the Lafayette Journal and Courier that his introduction to baseball was almost a complete accident.

'My parents brought me to a random field one day and I just thought we were having a picnic or something,' Edey remembered.

'All the sudden, it was, 'There's a baseball tryout over there. You should go over there'.'

Edey intimidated other kids in baseball by being a foot taller than other players - especially as he dominated both pitching and batting.

'From a shorter mound, it was so intimidating stepping into the batter's box,' said teammate Sam Brown. 'He was so much stronger and threw harder than anybody back then.'

His coach Eric Stickney told MLB.com, 'It was definitely like a safety concern when he played. You would really worry about the safety of the other team's pitcher if he was able to get ahold of one and hit a line drive.'

But despite Edey's prowess on the mound, basketball was calling to him and he took the sport up in high school.

Edey admitted that becoming a professional baseball player 'was something I really wanted during my childhood. Something I dreamed about.' But he admitted, 'I kind of outgrew the sport. My shoulder was kind of giving out a little bit. It wasn't very realistic anymore.'

He transitioned from being one of the best baseball prospects in Canada to being a top basketball talent in high school - even moving to the United States at the prestigious IMG Academy in Florida.

His high school talent secured him a scholarship with Purdue's top-notch college basketball program and it was there that he shined.

When he hit the court in his freshman year, he became the tallest player in Big Ten Conference history and made their all-freshman team.

His junior and senior years were especially remarkable - earning first-team All-American honors and winning the national college player of the year award twice.

Edey even led Purdue to its first Final Four appearance since 1980 and its first national title game spot since 1969 - where they lost to UConn.

Now, he'll be taking his massive frame to the NBA where he'll hope to turn into a dominant paint presence for years to come.