GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 3 67
BY BRIAN NEUBERT
BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
T
he assemblage of Purdue's 2017 signing class
to this point has been anything but a straight
line, but its most recent entry served as an
exclamation point.
When Nojel Eastern committed to the Boilermakers
on Nov. 16, he did so after years of being recruit-
ed as a priority target for Purdue's staff,
even through a major ankle injury,
and represented a significant re-
cruiting victory for Matt Painter
and his staff during a cycle in
which many long-time targets
opted elsewhere.
The 6-foot-5, 180-pound Rivals.
com four-star guard chose the
Boilermakers over legitimate of-
fers from Michigan State, Ohio
State and several others. East-
ern, from Evanston High School
in Chicagoland, is ranked 75th
nationally by Rivals.com.
"It was the support they
gave. When I was down they
were still there. When I was
injured, they were there,"
Eastern said following his an-
nouncement. "They just came
to support me and gave me all
the tips they could to make
me the best player I could
possibly be. I just felt like the
program, the people, the en-
vironment, the surroundings
MEN'S BASKETBALL RECRUITING
Eastern's Promise
Four-star guard makes for an interesting dynamic on future rosters
Purdue Athletics
Purdue got the guard
it wanted when Nojel
Eastern committed, then
signed in November.
