NCAA Basketball: 10 teams who should target Purdue transfer Nojel Eastern

South Carolina Gamecocks

Between returning leading scorers AJ Lawson and Jermaine Cousinard and UNC sit-out transfer Seventh Woods, the Gamecocks are in a good place for next season on the perimeter. But Lawson is a contender to go pro next offseason so just in case, there needs to be a Plan B for the program. The best Frank Martin teams are strong defensively and they aren’t going to win a shootout against the more talented SEC squads such as Auburn, LSU and Kentucky.

Eastern would be great for South Carolina, even if Lawson comes back as he can play the wing and not have to be relied upon to score much. He still doesn’t get much credit for his role on the Elite 8 Boilermaker team but was worth a few wins on his own. Those could be enough to get this program back in the NCAA Tournament picture.

San Diego State Aztecs

Going out west to California may not be an ideal situation in the real world right now but in terms of strictly basketball, this could be an excellent option for Eastern. The Aztecs have been a tremendous defensive unit in the past decade, ranking in the top-5 overall this past season.

San Diego State has to replace Mountain West Player of the Year Malachi Flynn but does have Cal State Northridge grad transfer, Terrell Gomez, to lead the offense. The most important player next season though is wing Matt Mitchell, assuming he comes back from the NBA Draft. He’s a great two-way player and at the moment, the team doesn’t have a clear replacement for him. Eastern would perfectly in their system and could benefit from playing in the Mountain West overall.