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Meet the team: Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell

The start to the Ohio State men's basketball season is just a bit over two weeks away, officially starting the season against Akron at Value City Arena Nov. 9.

Until then, Scarlet and Gray Report will take you through each of the members of Ohio State's roster, giving an idea of what to expect from each in 2021-22.

Up first: E.J. Liddell.

Liddell burst onto the scene as one of the Big Ten’s elite basketball players — earning a First Team All-Big Ten selection by the conference’s coaches last season.

Liddell’s quick ascension in his sophomore season allowed him to go through the NBA draft process, but he ultimately decided to return to Columbus for his junior season.


Scouting report 

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Height: 6-foot-7

Weight: 240

Year: Junior

Position: Forward

Last season: Averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, shooting 47.4% from the field and 33.8% from 3

What he brings 

Liddell brings virtually everything a team needs: consistent scoring, activity on the glass. He’s an offensive-facilitator and a sound defender.

As a sophomore, Liddell showed his wide versatility on the offensive end. Liddell is effective in the post, whether that comes from his patented post-fadeaway or when he muscles his way through a defender for an easy layup.

The further he strays from the paint, Liddell’s efficiency dips, but his dip is still better than much of the conference. While Liddell shot just 33.8% from 3 in 2020, expect that number to rise after he greatly improved from his 19.2% output from his freshman season.

Similar to redshirt senior forward Kyle Young, Liddell was forced into mismatches against bigs last season, but held his own for the most part with 1.1 blocks per game.

What to expect in 2021-22

Expect Liddell to make another leap on both sides of the ball in 2021-22.

Without Duane Washington Jr., Liddell is primed to be the No. 1 scoring option for the Buckeyes and likely will see the ball in his hands even more than last season. While Liddell feasts in the paint and mid-range, expect to see his 3-point percentage rise as well.

On the boards, expect to see a rise in rebounding totals, even with the inclusion of Indiana transfer center Joey Brunk to the Buckeyes’ rotation.

Defensively, Liddell will likely be primarily defending other fours instead of being tasked to defend centers. With this, his defensive burden drops considerably as he will be defending those who boast a similar size to him as opposed to bigs.

With less of a defensive burden, Liddell will also likely have more room to be active on the glass and on the offensive end as he will no longer be wasting energy defending guys like Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn and Purdue’s Trevion Williams.


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