Purdue basketball: Big man Zach Edey sidelined for first official practice

WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue began its first official practice Tuesday without its anchor in the middle.

Big man Zach Edey was on the sidelines as the Boilermakers conducted their workout in Mackey Arena. The 7-foot-4 Edey is recovering from a concussion.

Edey has been out for about a week, according to coach Matt Painter. The timeline for his return is unclear.

“It’s whenever he gets out of the protocol,” Painter said.

Edey was the only player not to participate in drills during the nearly three-hour practice. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last season after averaging 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds and shooting 64.8% from the field while splitting minutes with Trevion Williams.

Edey is expected to play more minutes this season but Matt Painter won’t force it with backups Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn ready to contribute.

“It's one of those things if he can't (play more minutes), it's no big deal,” Painter said last week. “It’s not like we're short on players on our front line. If that's the best thing for us to do and he plays 30 minutes he will. If it's more along 25, 26, 27 minutes or something in there, we’ll see how it goes.”

Purdue will practice again Wednesday, take Thursday off and hold workouts Friday and Saturday to wrap up the first week.

Mike Carmin covers Purdue sports for the Journal & Courier and USA Today Sports Network. Email mcarmin@gannett.com and follow on Twitter and Instagram @carmin_jc

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue basketball: Big man Zach Edey sidelined for first official practice