COLUMBUS, Ohio — The morning after an early-season game, Chris Holtmann opened a text from Malaki Branham.
The Ohio State freshman wasn’t satisfied with his performance from the night before and shot his head coach a message after his morning workout.
“It was a very long text, but it said, ‘I just want to thank you,’” Holtmann recalled. “‘You promised in recruiting me that you would allow me to play through mistakes. I made a lot of them last night and I just want to thank you for letting me play through them.’”
Branham wasn't a finished product. He knew he wasn't planning on spending four years at Ohio State and knew what he had to offer, but he was still getting his feet wet, learning what it took for an 18-year old to be successful as a tall, lanky and smooth scorer at the wing.
But as games continued into 2022, the confidence grew, the consistency began and there was no hint of any "freshman wall:" something Ohio State's head coach dreaded and used to ease expectation for a player who only continued to grow.
Reality set in. That’s when Holtmann had to send a text.
Branham wasn’t on the chain, instead sending a message to a few close friends and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith with a much shorter, much more concise message, but one he didn’t think he would have to write so early:
“‘We need to plan on Malaki not being here next year.’”
That’s what averaging 17 points per game in 22 games against Big Ten opponents, Loyola Chicago and Villanova does for a freshman.
The game was slowing down for Branham. He was making the right read, understanding how opposing defenses were playing him and dishing the ball out to set his teammates up for scores. It was consistency that NBA scouts and executives saw and were impressed by, Holtmann said, even more than the individual moments of brilliance he had on the road against Nebraska or at home against Indiana.
It wasn’t until the end of the year, Branham said, that he began to pay attention to that potential, devoting his energy to winning basketball games instead of getting “big-headed.” But reality struck the freshman as well, entering the NBA Draft without an agent to get feedback, and instead hearing the message that his time in Columbus was up.
“Really, just being a first-round pick,” Branham said. “I feel like that was the biggest feedback I kind of needed.”
Hearing feedback like this, hearing that one of his players could be a late lottery pick in the NBA Draft, is why Holtmann does what he does: helping players see their dream and see that potential within reach.
Getting to the next level is nothing new for Ohio State, with five players in five years currently contributing on NBA rosters, including Duane Washington Jr. on the Indiana Pacers and Jae’Sean Tate on the Houston Rockets.
But Branham’s path is different. He’s Ohio State’s first Big Ten Freshman of the Year, first one-and-done and could be the first first-round draft pick since D’Angelo Russell in 2015, even though E.J. Liddell is expected to be selected in the first round as well.
“It’s certainly an important moment for us, to have two guys drafted this year,” Holtmann said. “There’s no question, it’s important. I think it’s something we want to see on a consistent basis, and we hope it’s the beginning of that.”
As Branham began to blossom, Ohio State’s course was changed. Instead of having Branham to lead the team as a sophomore and turning into a lottery pick in the process, he became that over the span of four months.
It was something the Buckeyes had begun to prepare for, bringing in Wright State’s Tanner Holden and West Virginia’s Sean McNeil as transfers even though Branham didn’t give the Buckeyes a definitive answer until Tuesday.
But Holtmann knows Branham is not a player the Buckeyes can replace easily.
“We understand the hit of losing a player of this caliber, in some ways, does to our roster. That’s reality,” Holtmann said. “And you don’t plan for it. In our minds, we planned on him coming back as certainly leading the charge as a sophomore, but he progressed in a phenomenal way and I’m thrilled for it. There’s a bittersweet element to it, but it’s much more sweet than bitter.”
Branham wasn’t thinking about spending four years at Ohio State, laughing it off, knowing what he had even though the people outside of the building may not have known what he could bring to a basketball court.
He knew that as soon as he was given the opportunity to be himself on a basketball court, his time at the college level would be pretty quick.
But it was all part of the process, getting to the place where the Ohio State freshman could achieve his dream of playing in the NBA.
“Just being a guy that can go out there and get a bucket, but also lead the team and help them do whatever they need to do,” Branham said on what he will bring to an NBA team’s roster. “Just be myself, for real. Just have fun. I love the game. Just working out and being the best player I can be.”
As for that freshman wall...
“I don’t think there was that freshman wall, right?” Branham asked Holtmann with a grin.
