Howard University gets transfer Nojel Eastern from Purdue

The Howard Bison were an afterthought in one of the worst conferences in college basketball during the 2019-20 season.

But that might not be the case for much longer as the historically black college now has two major feathers in their cap with the addition of Purdue senior transfer Nojel Eastern according Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.

Eastern had previously committed to Michigan, but now appears headed to Washington D.C. During his previous transfer request he wasn’t listed as a graduate transfer in the portal, which means he would have to sit out the 2020-21 season if a waiver isn’t granted.

The guard averaged just 4.9 points in 25.5 minutes per game his junior season, following a sophomore campaign for the Boilermakers with 28.2 minutes and 7.5 points per game.

Add Eastern to one of the biggest recruiting coups in the sport in 5-star prospect Makur Maker, who also chose the Bison this offseason. For a team that finished 4-29 overall, and 1-15 in the MEAC last season, it’s quite an upgrade in talent.

And it also means there will be murmurs about how a program that’s in the bottom 5% of Division I athletics budgets can start bringing in players at this level. We won’t speculate as to the how, just that if your favorite team sees Howard on your schedule in the next couple seasons, you might have a tougher non-conference game than you were expecting.