The Michigan Wolverines' basketball program picked up a transfer late last week in former Purdue guard Nojel Eastern, who had been a staple on the court for the Boilermakers over the last two seasons.
He will likely have to sit out next season as a senior, but will then be allowed to play in 2021-22 as a fifth-year senior.
Here are the stats, figures and numbers to know surrounding the Maize and Blue's newest guard.
0 Three-pointers made over the last two seasons (seven attempts), after he connected on three of his nine tries from deep as a freshman in 2017-18.
2.7 Assists per game last year, which led Purdue's entire team. His 2.5 dimes per game as a sophomore, meanwhile, were the third most on the club.
5.5 Rebounds for Eastern as a sophomore in 2018-19, which led the Boilermaker squad. He outrebounded the likes of 7-3 center Matt Haarms (5.4) and 6-6 forward Grady Eifert (5.2) that year. Eastern's rebounding numbers dipped immensely this past season, however, when he averaged just 4.0 per game and checked in fifth on the team in the category.
6-7, 225 Pounds is what he is listed at, which is quite large for a collegiate guard. He will not be the tallest guard on Michigan's roster next season, however, with rising sophomore Franz Wagner listed at 6-9, 205.
No. 11 Nationally is where Purdue was rated this past season in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defensive efficiency rankings, with Eastern's defensive prowess spearheading the attack. The Boilermakers ranked a respectable 34th in the country, meanwhile, in the category in 2018-19, with Eastern playing a key role on the defensive side of the ball that season as well.
12 Of Michigan's 13 scholarships are now filled for next season following Eastern's addition (assuming junior forward Isaiah Livers returns for his senior year). U-M could still potentially add another transfer guard, after having made the short list for DePaul's Jalen Coleman-Lands and Wake Forest's Chaundee Brown.
15 Points is Eastern's career high scoring total in a game, doing so in a 70-57 win at Northwestern on March 9, 2019. The 6-7 guard averaged 2.9 points per game as a freshman at Purdue in 2017-18, 7.5 as a sophomore in 2018-19 and 4.9 as a junior last season, and has only scored more than 11 points nine times in his 104 collegiate games.
16.5 Percent drop in Eastern's free throw percentage from his sophomore to junior year. The Evanston, Ill., native shot a respectable 65 percent (65-for-100) from the charity stripe as a sophomore in 2018-19, but saw that number dip to just 48.5 percent (16-for-33) this past season.
62 Starts in the 67 games he has appeared in over the past two seasons. Eastern has competed in all 104 games Purdue has played since the start of the 2017-18 season.
No. 77 Overall player in the country out of high school in the 2017 class, checking in as a solid four-star prospect and the sixth best recruit the Big Ten signed that year.
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