Liddell chooses Ohio State
Early on it was believed to be a back-and-forth fight between two rivals with first-year coaches Cuonzo Martin and Brad Underwood.
Missouri and Illinois were locked in a battle for the state’s top player, Belleville West’s E.J. Liddell. But that recruiting struggle began to fade once Ohio State and coach Chris Holtmann came calling.
Liddell, the state’s top senior and one of the top 50 prospects in the country, narrowed his lengthly list of suitors to three schools. He took visits to Ohio State, Missouri and Illinois in September before ending his recruitment Monday night with a commitment to the Buckeyes.
“I know Ohio State was the place I needed to be and the place for me,” Liddell said. “I didn’t come to my final decision until this past week.”
There are always several boxes that need to be checked by athletes in the recruiting process. But a couple stood out more than others to Liddell, and it was Ohio State that emphatically checked them both.
Liddell’s relationship and connection with the coach mattered. Despite Ohio State jumping in later than others, there was no denying the bond he established with Holtmann, along with the players, incoming recruits and coaching staff in the Buckeyes program.
“Coach Holtmann and everyone there was so honest with me,” Liddell said.
Liddell found a program that’s poised to win immediately with the current talent, as well as the incoming recruits.
Liddell will join a whopper of a recruiting class, one that surely will be ranked among the top 10 — if not the top five — in the country. Standouts includes five-star point guard D.J. Carton of Iowa and 6-8 Ohio native Alonzo Gaffney, another top 50 national recruit.
Last season, Liddell averaged 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He led the Maroons to 32 wins and a state championship. He was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and has scored 1,759 career points.