Zach Edey isn’t known for fiery, showy displays of emotion on the floor. He often lets his talent do the talking.

Controlling games is nothing new for Edey. College basketball fans who don’t watch Purdue until March have been in awe of the Boilermaker big man’s dominance in the NCAA Tournament.

After making some Elite 8 history in leading Purdue past Tennessee, Edey offered a peek into what fuels him. He may not always show it, but Edey plays with a burning fire to silence doubters.

Edey dropped an f-bomb in his CBS Sports postgame interview recalling Purdue’s doubters.

“They thought they knew us. They thought they knew what we had in our hearts,” Edey said to Evan Washburn. “I’ll promise you they didn’t. We’re f—– winners. This is what we do.”

In his postgame press conference, Edey talked of being motivated by payback.

“There are so many coaches that looked over me,” Edey said. “Like you can name a program, I can name a coach that looked over me.

“At Tennessee, Rick Barnes is a great coach, but he was in a bunch of our practices, looked over me. Like, it’s kind of been the story of my life. People have doubted me. People have looked past me, and can’t do that anymore.”

RELATED: The Vols are out of the NCAA Tournament, but SEC baseball action is heating up in April! Be sure to track the latest odds and get in on the action with SDS’s legal sports betting apps in Tennessee.

Edey has a point about being looked over. His 247Sports recruiting profile shows that even at 7-3, 290 pounds, he was a 3-star prospect rated the No. 75 center and No. 33 player in the state of Florida out of the IMG Academy.

Just 3 programs offered scholarships to Edey: Purdue, Baylor and Western Kentucky.

As Barnes returns to Knoxville with his 9th season at Tennessee in the books without a trip to the Final Four, he probably wishes he had recruited Edey.

For Matt Painter and Purdue, everything worked out just right.