COLUMBUS, Ohio — Malaki Branham was not on any NBA Draft boards heading into his first season at Ohio State, something head coach Chris Holtmann wanted to make perfectly clear as he sat next to his one-and-done freshman phenom Wednesday afternoon.
“He was not on any draft boards coming into the season. He was nowhere on any draft boards. He wasn’t in the top 80 on any of those,” Holtmann said, with Branham looking on with a smirk as if to say, “We get the point.”
“But what I think people saw was how good he really is.”
Holtmann always felt Branham was undervalued: an elite player with the right combination of youth, length and a “really special touch.”
“When you combine his physical tools with who he is as a person and as a player, I think you have a very, very special NBA player,” Holtmann said. “I’m 100% convinced of that. He’s just scratching the surface on the kind of player he’s going to be.”
This is the player Ohio State is tasked to replace next season.
