Buckeyes land Liddell
Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes landed a major prize for the class of 2019 on Monday as forward E.J. Liddell gave his pledge to the Buckeyes, picking Ohio State over fellow finalists MIssouri and Illinois. The Belleville (Ill.) prospect is the nation's No. 43 prospect in the Rivals150 and gives Ohio State a stellar class of three for 2019.
Liddell checks in at 6-foot-7, 220-pounds and joins Alonzo Gaffney and D.J. Carton in Ohio State's class. Liddell recently went through a round of official visits for his three finalists and checked out the Buckeyes the weekend of the first football game of the season and had his future teammates, Carton and Gaffney with him to try and help seal the deal.
The Buckeyes would have to wait however for Liddell to take visits to Missouri (9/7) and Illinois (9/21) before the decision making process would really kick in. It always felt as if Ohio State as the team to beat once he had a chance to see the campus and spend time with Gaffney and Carton.
"What an impressive piece of work by Chris Holtmann and his staff to come in and land E.J. Liddell," Rivals.com national basketball recruiting analyst Eric Bossi said. "This time a year ago, nobody really gave anybody a chance to pull Liddell from Illinois or Missouri, especially not Ohio State, but here we are and Liddell is a Buckeye. Their ability to build a direct relationship with E.J. himself was likely the difference maker."
Holtmann's offense will be a friendly one for Liddell as it is "combo forward-friendly" Bossi added and there won't be the pressure on Liddell to be "the guy" the second he sets foot on campus as Holtmann has recruited well for the past couple of seasons since taking over for Thad Matta.
"As a player Liddell is an interesting matchup," Bossi continued. "He's not as tall as you would typically like a high end four man to be but he's very quick off the floor, physically tough and he has deft shooting touch. Power forwards who can rebound, make threes and block shots are a fit anywhere and he's strong enough that the jump from high school to college shouldn't be that big of a deal for him."
This class will be one of the better ones around as the Buckeyes look to build for the future under Holtmann.
"With Liddell in the fold, the Buckeyes now have a quite impressive three man recruiting clas," Bossi said. "Ohio native Alonzo Gaffney, another top 50 prospect, is a long and athletic combo forward who has huge upside once he gets stronger and adds consistency to his game. In D.J. Carton they have a steady and tough five-star point guard who is a true facilitator and now Liddell gives them an inside/out scorer. The class currently ranks No. 4 nationally for 2019."
Ohio State would appear to be up against the scholarship limit with its three-man class but will still be recruiting in the class of 2019. Isaac Johnson is a 6-foot-10, 220-pound center out of American Fork (Utah) and he will take an official visit to Ohio State this weekend. His plan is to sign this fall but take a two-year LDS mission which would place him in the 2021 class for scholarship purposes. He also has Utah, BYU and Oregon on his list of schools.
Keep it tuned in here for more on Ohio State basketball recruiting news as Chris Holtmann and his staff continue to work hard on the road as the men's basketball season is almost here.