North Cook News

Nojel Eastern is back on the Purdue University campus with the kind of direction and peace of mind he always wanted.

The Evanston High grad turned heads last spring when he declared for the NBA draft after averaging just 2.9 points and 2.6 rebounds in less than 12 minutes a game during his freshmen season.

But for Eastern, who never hired an agent and thus maintained the option of returning to West Lafayette, it was all about strategizing over the long haul.

“I just wanted a professional evaluation,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “Getting from the best of the best, getting what you need to do in the summer from the best people, what they think you need to work on. These are the people you really want to listen to. The coaches here too, you want to listen to them for sure. But it’s just another evaluation of what I need to work on in the summer and what I need to do to be able to play at the next level.”

During the process, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound point guard worked out for the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics. He said he has taken their advice to work on his perimeter game to heart, getting up to 500 shots per day this summer and smoothing out his technique.

 “It’s a lot of consistency and repetition, doing the same thing over and over and over again,” he said. “That was the main thing I took this summer to do. But I’m still working on other aspects of my game.”

Eastern’s growing maturity has allowed him to see that the game is as much mental as it is anything else.

“The game is physically a lot different at that level, but it’s being able to do those physical things while you’re thinking at the same time,” he said. “It’s using your brain, using your mental part of the game. The game, of course, is physical. But if you’re smart or if you’re a step ahead, that helps you maintain your game a lot longer.”

Going into this season, the Boilermakers are looking for bigger and better things from Eastern. He started to take off at the latter part of last season for the Boilermakers and is looking to pick up where he left off.

“I live in the moment,” Eastern said. “I lived in that moment when I was working out for the NBA teams; it was a great experience. But now I’m back at Purdue; I’m living in the moment. I want to try to win, try to get to the Final Four. I want to try to help my teammates get better, try to help myself get better, so one day we all possibly can play at the next level.”