{"id":9325,"date":"2015-03-03T17:34:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T23:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=9325"},"modified":"2015-03-04T17:06:59","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:06:59","slug":"evanston-sophomore-guard-draws-offers-from-top-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/evanston-sophomore-guard-draws-offers-from-top-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Evanston Sophomore Guard Draws Offers from Top Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tim Penman<\/p>\n

Clarification: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized Nojel Eastern as the last Evanston player since Everette Stephens in 1984 to get offers from NCAA Division I schools. Stephens should have been described as the last player to garner so much\u00a0attention from Division I schools.<\/div>\n

Until the age of eight, Nojel Eastern\u2019s mom would school him in one-on-one basketball games on the lakefront court at Loyola Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI beat him quite a few times, I made him cry a few times,\u201d Tamala Reed said. \u201cWhen he figured it out that he was faster than his mom, that he could shoot it, that\u2019s when I couldn\u2019t beat him anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Evanston sophomore guard is now 6-foot-5, 10 inches taller than his mom and is considered by experts to be arguably the best sophomore basketball player in Illinois, the most highly recruited from Evanston in 31 years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

By age 10, Eastern\u2019s size and high basketball IQ distinguished him among other kids, according to his longtime trainer, Octavius Parker. Nojel\u2019s father, Lejon Eastern, would also challenge his son on the court during that time of development.<\/p>\n

Nojel grew up in a basketball family. Lejon played high school basketball at Park Forest Academy. His mom made the \u00a0all-conference team during her playing days at Austin Community Academy High School before going on to be a small forward at Chicago State University during the mid-1980s. She is a school bus driver who referees both men\u2019s and women\u2019s high school and college basketball. Up until seven years ago, at age 40, she still played in rec leagues herself.<\/p>\n

Now, however, she said she devotes herself to her only child, travelling with him to\u00a0tournaments and camps \u2013 \u201cI go where he goes,\u201d she said \u2013 and her support for her son has apparently paid off. Last Wednesday, Eastern was named to the Central Suburban South all-conference team alongside senior teammate Elijah Henry.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis size is the first thing that stands out,\u201d said Scott Burgess, Prep Hoops Illinois scout and recruiting analyst. \u201cHe understands the game well beyond his years. He is a good ball handler; he is smooth with it in traffic. He can finish with both hands, which is kind of rare for prospects at a young age.\u201d<\/p>\n