Welcome Mr. Eastern!
- Thread starter slidde01
- Start date
Lets wait until its time for the man to announce, I know everyone would love to know, its about like waiting for Christmas morning to come when we were little kids.
Central or Eastern? No pun intended.
Unfortunately central time. Hopefully those in the Central time zone can let those of us out east what his choice is. Sucks that we have to wait another hour.
I already know from a friend in California.
I already know from a friend in California.
But wouldn't it make sense if your friend in London told you?
Ok, now that was funny!!! Unfortunately some might take you seriously
Reminds me of my Dad when he would call me at Purdue.....this was back when most of Indiana didn't change clocks for Standard time/Daylight savings......he could NEVER get it straight.....invariably I was in class, and my friend would have to "remind" him about what time it actually was. My friend always got a kick out of him getting flustered and saying the same humorous stuff every time like clockwork.
But wouldn't it make sense if your friend in London told you?
Only if he arrived there by crossing the International Date Line.....
Where do you get this stuff from? I have tried to be neutral when it comes to negative people like you, but enough already. Every list we had before now has had Eastern as one of the top guys we would like to have. Now you down play it like he is some after thought that we have to settle for. Your agenda is really showing through on this one CP. I know you would love to see CMP go, but you could at least try to be objective.
I believe he was the top targeted Guard all along. Eastern and a Big (JJJ or Williams) was considered a great class. Missed on the 2 bigs but love getting Eastern.
I could be wrong, but the only recruit (rated higher than Eastern) that I remember Purdue having a legitimate shot with was JJJ. Eastern has always been coveted and highly-regarded around here. Again, if memory serves, we've always wanted him more than Tillman (who is ranked lower, I believe...though I put less stock in rankings than most folks do).
IF we get him, I believe it could be even more important than most folks are saying. What this team lacks--what Carsen Edwards isn't yet but could very well become--is a dynamic scoring/creating guard who can get his own shot in crunch time. IMO, it's why our ceiling has been "very good" ever since Moore graduated (rather than "great").
With that dynamic guard (Eastern and/or Edwards), we could become an elite team. I hate to put that kind of pressure on a recruit, but his impact could be enormous.
I didn't start following 2017 recruiting until 7 or 8 months ago but I have always seen Jackson, Easten and Tillman as the top 3 targets. With Jackson being obviously the top target, I think Eastern is and was higher than Tillman in pretty much every ranking, so I think he definitely was a top 3 target for Purdue.
Agree and I think (if eastern comes) he and Carsen will take over the 1 and 2 positions and create tremendous matchup issues in our favor out top. Combine that with some athleticism at the 3 and 4 spots and the 2019 and beyond era looks good again.
Man, everyone is on edge and in attack mode! Must be because we haven't been able to land anyone above a 3 star yet in 17. Here is Brian's "front burner" 2017 article:
https://purdue.rivals.com/news/purd...ting-class-could-be-a-pivotal-one-for-program
In the article, here are the guys he listed in order of Rival ranking, that were "front burner" recruits for us:
Jaren Jackson- from Indy, #15- 5 star
Kris Wilkes- from Indy, #18- 5 star
Malik Williams- from Fort Wayne, #29- 4 star
Paul Scruggs- from Indy, #31- 4 star
Nojel Eastern- from Illinois, #75- 4 star
Xavier Tillman- from MI, #86- 4 star
Kyle Young- from OH, #109- 4 star
So again, I'm saying he is wanted, but he isn't one of the top 2-3 guys (actually 4 based on Brian's front burner article) we originally hoped for. There isn't an objective person here who was hoping for a class of Eastern and some projects in the mighty 2017 class that was FULL OF INDIANA TALENT, but that is where we are.
Another quote from Brian that is interesting looking back at it:
"With any large class, there is no one singular need that really trumps all others, but with the eventual end of Haas' and Swanigan's runways at Purdue needing to be considered, Purdue has to restock its frontcourt.
That's been an emphasis in its years-long pursuit of in-state big men Jaren Jackson Jr. and Malik Williams, as well as Michigan post player Xavier Tillman. This might also be the class where Purdue has to replace the elements Edwards has brough to its frontcourt, and thus its interest in prospects like Indy blue-chipper Kris Wilkes and versatile Ohio forward/wing Kyle Young."
"With any large class, there is no one singular need that really trumps all others, but with the eventual end of Haas' and Swanigan's runways at Purdue needing to be considered, Purdue has to restock its frontcourt.
That's been an emphasis in its years-long pursuit of in-state big men Jaren Jackson Jr. and Malik Williams, as well as Michigan post player Xavier Tillman. This might also be the class where Purdue has to replace the elements Edwards has brough to its frontcourt, and thus its interest in prospects like Indy blue-chipper Kris Wilkes and versatile Ohio forward/wing Kyle Young."
We clearly have different opinions of "objective." No disrespect to Brian, but by all accounts we were never close to getting Wilkes or Scruggs; therefore, those don't constitute "losses." In retrospect, I do remember more hope for Williams, but even if you count him, Eastern is still the third-most highly-coveted prospect, and if we get him, this recruiting season becomes far more than the pyrrhic victory you're portraying it to be.
Whoever you thought was realistic, I will go with who Brian thought were the front burners for Purdue. Again, I don't think Eastern is bad at all. I think he could be a good player, and hope he will be (if he picks Purdue). But 2017 will still be considered just OK at best if we get him. We all hoped for much more. You can't argue that.
C'mon CP, you know we were never even in the running for Wilkes or Scruggs. That is being just plain disingenuous to bring up an old article and trying to sell it as fact. JJJ, Tillman and Eastern have consistently been the top 3 targets we have all been talking about for months.
I agree with Brian on Malik and Jackson. Don't think Scruggs or Wilkes ever had interest.
I am most surprised that none of the top in state talent stayed in state. I thought Wilkes would go IU.
Gotta remember that Epperson is still a possibility too. If we can happen to land both Eastern and Epperson, I would say that Painter salvaged this class pretty decently considering the amount of misses, even if you do not throw in Scruggs and Wilkes as ever being likely.
This isn't "an old article". This is what we were all hoping for and Painter's Plan A, B, C, etc. not 5 years ago, but just back in April 2016... as in after last season was over (prematurely) and before anything had started this year. I was certainly hoping for 3 guys off that list.
The top 4 guys were national recruits who could have gone almost anywhere. You try for those guys, but if you miss on them you move on. I don't get your constant whining about them. Every time that Purdue gets a commitment, you are whining about players that decided against Purdue long before.
We weren't all hoping for it because most of us knew Wilkes and Scruggs weren't coming here. You keep using their names because it fits your agenda. JJJ, Tillman and Eastern were the top names consistently talked about.
I wouldn't expect anything less than negativity from CP because it doesn't fit his agenda. I am not sure why he hates Painter so much, but he really seems to thrive off of the things that don't go Painter's way for one reason or another. Eastern has been a top name for quite some time as you pointed out.
I guess I don't/didn't follow as closely as you do. I really hoped Brian knew who the front burners were.
CP3PO is the most pessimistic, anti-Painter, just plain glass half empty person I've ever seen post. Must be tough going through life with such negativity against a school you supposedly are a fan of. Wow you must be just unhappy all the time. That's too bad really.
Well, of course we all hoped for more. That's a straw man argument. Who wouldn't want JJJ? I was disappointed we didn't get him.
But recruiting is rarely perfection vs. cataclysm. You make it sound as though we only would have been successful had we gotten JJJ, Wilkes, Williams, Eastern, and Tillman. That was never going to happen, which most of us recognized. The three names here (Maybe we should create a poll challenging people's recollections?) that have been consistently talked about all along are JJJ, Eastern, and Tillman (emphatically in that order).
While I would have rather also had JJJ, I believe this recruiting class is a solid one, capped by a highly-regarded player whom I believe to be underrated. That certainly doesn't qualify as a disappointing class.
Agree completely. Eastern was my personal #2.
