When EJ Liddell committed to Ohio State in October of 2018, he hoped Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes would develop him into an NBA player. After three successful seasons in Columbus, the forward elected it was time to move on to the NBA.
On Thursday night, Liddell’s dreams were realized, just a little later than he expected. Despite being projected as a former first-round pick, he former Scarlet and Gray star was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans with the 11th pick of the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft, 41st overall.
Liddell becomes the 10th former Ohio State player to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft this century, following former teammate Malaki Branham, who was taken by the San Antonio Spurs 21 picks earlier in this year’s draft. Branham and Liddell become the first Buckeye teammates to be selected in the same NBA Draft since 2007 when Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook all were taken in the first round after one season with the Scarlet and Gray.
A four-star prospect coming out of Belleville West High School, Liddell was the eighth-ranked power forward in the country and a top-50 overall player, according to the 247Sports Composite, in the 2019 recruiting class. He was named Mr. Basketball in Illinois in each of his final two years of high school and was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch metro area high school player of the decade.
As a freshman during the 2019-20 season, Liddell served as a backup behind Kaleb and Andre Wesson. While he played in all 31 games for Ohio State, he came off the bench in each contest, averaging 16.6 minutes per game. Liddell managed 6.7 points and hauled in 3.8 rebounds per outing as a freshman, but began to play at a higher level later in the year. Liddell scored 17 points in a loss at Iowa in late February that season and had 17 points and 11 rebounds, his first collegiate double-double, two weeks later in a win against Illinois. He finished the regular season with a 12-point, four-rebound performance in a loss to Michigan State.
Liddell became a starter as a sophomore in 2020-21 for the Buckeyes, playing in 29 and starting 28 of the Scarlet and Gray’s 31 contests during the COVID-shortened season. Thanks to his increased role, Liddell’s production took a jump, as he averaged averaging 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while playing 29.4 minutes per content. Liddell saw his shooting percentage also increase to 47.4 percent and his outside game continued to improve, hitting 33.8 percent of his three-point attempts that season. He was named first-team All-Big Ten following his sophomore year.
After testing the NBA waters in the offseason, Liddell returned for his junior year last season. As one of the veteran leaders of the team, Liddell started all 32 games for Ohio State, playing 33.2 minutes per contest as a junior and averaging 19.4 points on 49 percent shooting, 37.4 percent from three-point range, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.5 assists per contest. After the season, Liddel was named a consensus first-team All-Big Ten performer and was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.
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With his selection in the NBA Draft now in the books, Liddell can focus on beginning his career with the Spurs and proving those teams that didn’t want him in the top 30 picks wrong.