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Ex-Purdue guard Nojel Eastern is denied admission at Michigan

Texas Tech v Purdue

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 23: Nojel Eastern #20 of the Purdue Boilermakers is defended by Jarrett Culver #23 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at TD Garden on March 23, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

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Former Purdue guard Nojel Eastern announced on Wednesday that he will not be transferring to Michigan and, instead, will be reopening his recruitment.

Eastern was not admitted into Michigan. He committed there last month, just a day after announcing his decision to leave Purdue.

“I was not admitted to the University because of many credits that weren’t transferable because of my Major. That is the only reason why I was not accepted,” Eastern tweeted on Wednesday. “I say this to say that I will be reopening my recruitment process as a transfer. I want [to] thank Michigan and the entire staff and organization for trying to do everything in [their] power to come to the University of Michigan.”

Eastern, a 6-foot-7 junior, started 62 games the last two seasons. As a junior, he averaged 4.9 points and 4.0 boards, down from 7.5 points and 5.5 boards as a sophomore. Eastern opted to leave Purdue after fellow junior Matt Haarms, who transferred to BYU, causing head coach Matt Painter to go on a local radio show and rip them.

“I don’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings, because I like the guys who have left my program. I like both of them. But transfers don’t get drafted very much. It’s a very, very small percentage,” Painter said.

“When you look at the people that have been here when Nojel’s been here ... all those guys improved and then you didn’t improve.

“He made a really good jump, Nojel, from his freshman to his sophomore year, and then he took a step back this year.

“Now you become the outlier. The other guys got better. The other guys improved.”