Former Purdue guard Octeus gets summer league opportunity with Pacers

Former Purdue guard Jon Octeus worked out for five NBA teams in a quest to hear his name on draft night.

When that didn't happen on Thursday, Octeus moved on to the next stage of chasing his dream. He said Friday he has accepted a spot with the Indiana Pacers' team in the Orlando Pro Summer League.

Octeus said he will report to mini camp in Indianapolis on Monday before moving on to Orlando. Competition in that league runs from July 4-10.

"I want to be able to showcase the things I've been working on, as well as some of my strengths," Octeus said. "A lot of the things I do don't typically show up on the stat sheet. I want to go in there, be aggressive, and while I'm there learn as much as I can, learn the offense — whatever they want to teach."

Octeus worked out with the Pacers on June 2 and later worked out with the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers. He competed against a handful of players chosen in the first round of Thursday's NBA Draft, including Kansas' Kelly Oubre (drafted by Atlanta, traded to Washington), Notre Dame's Jerian Grant (Washington, to New York Knicks) and Wyoming's Larry Nance (Los Angeles Lakers).

Octeus said applying the skills he'd been developing since the end of the college season against that competition raised his confidence level.

"Those workouts allowed me to prove I could play with those guys," Octeus said. "One thing I was trying to focus on was going out there and competing. Being an NBA player is a full-time job. You're getting paid to produce. I wanted to go out and compete at the highest level and show these teams I deserve a shot."

The 6-foot-4, 175-pound Octeus joined Purdue last October as a graduate transfer after his original transfer from Colorado State to UCLA fell through. He averaged 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in an honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference season and helped the Boilermakers return to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence.