Happy Days Are Here: Carsen and Nojel Getting Band Back Together

Not many thought that Nojel was going to wind up leaving Purdue after his freshman year, though the agile point guard did indeed improve considerably over the course of his first season in black and gold. Our opinion here, though, is that any time a guy can work on his game, learn what he needs to improve, and get some real scouting advice, he should do so. 

More concerning was the fact that Carsen Edwards entered the NBA draft and went to the combine. And then he did things at the combine to draw attention. It's one of those dilemmas as a fan -- be selfish and tell people there's nothing to see here and he needs more work and should come back....or admit that Carsen might be close to ready to spread his wings. 

In the end, C-Boogie is coming back to Purdue for his junior year. He averaged 18.5 PPG last season and was the most valuable player on a senior-laden team that won a school record 19 consecutive games during the season and a school record 30 games overall. 

Nojel will join him, forming an athletic, fearless backcourt that should be a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Eastern averaged 12 minutes per game, putting up just under 3 ppg and 2.5 boards. He scored in double figures once, putting up 11 and 6 vs Michigan in the BTT in 18 minutes of action. Nojel's ability to rebound is something that Purdue sorely needs and if that continues to develop, too, I think he'll be a huge contributor this season. Lots of minutes await. 

Welcome back, guys.