Zach Edey tops the Canadians to watch in men's March Madness

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.

The 64-team NCAA men's basketball tournament begins Thursday, and several Canadians look poised to play big roles in the bracket — none bigger (both figuratively and quite literally) than Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 giant who stars for Purdue, one of the top title contenders.

Edey didn't start playing basketball until high school in his native Toronto. Now he's widely considered the best college player in the United States after winning the NCAA player of the year award last season and giving himself a great chance to repeat. Edey leads the nation in points this season with 24.4 per game and ranks third in rebounding with 11.7 for a Purdue team that went 29-4 to land one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament for the second straight year.

Edey's Boilermakers are seeking redemption for last year's disaster, when they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round to become just the second No. 1 seed in history to fall to a 16. In the aftermath of that devastating defeat, Edey changed his mind about entering the NBA draft and returned to Purdue. He got in better shape, sharpened his skills and became an even more unstoppable force, increasing both his scoring and assist averages along with his efficiency. His teammates improved too, especially in the all-important three-point shooting, while Edey hit the first (and still only) trey of his career.

WATCH | Edey among Canadian NCAAers unable to profit off likeness in United States:

As a result, the Boilermakers earned another No. 1 seed and seem better equipped to make a deep run this time in the