Malaki Branham hasn’t officially left Ohio State yet.

After a record-breaking freshman season with the Buckeyes, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year started that process Friday, declaring for the NBA Draft without losing college eligibility.

"I will be testing the draft waters while keeping my college eligibility intact," Branham told ESPN Friday. "I want to find the best situation and the right fit for me. I am staying in the draft if I'm in the first round because I believe if someone gives me four years to prove myself, I have no doubt that they will love what they're getting."

Ohio State loved what it got from Branham his freshman year.

The Columbus native averaged 13.7 points per game, with 3.6 rebounds and two assists, shooting 49.8% from the field and 41.6% from deep.

Coming into the 2021-22 season, the Buckeyes didn’t really know what they were going to get in Branham.

The freshman started out as a taller, lanky wing that was an inconsistent scorer, not finding his touch until a 35-point performance against Nebraska on the road.

From there, Branham sailed, becoming that consistent No. 2 option for Ohio State behind E.J. Liddell, who also declared for the NBA Draft, signing with an agent last Friday.

But with Branham, in the past few months, all he has done is grow. He bloomed into that second option, the one who would take over for Liddell in 2022-23 before exploding into a possible lottery pick.

And that’s what Ohio State would be losing.

Without Branham, the Buckeyes don’t have that second piece, losing the planned to be the successor of Liddell.

Now, without a definite answer from Seth Towns or Justice Sueing in terms of their return for another season, Ohio State could come into 2022-23 with a lot of holes.

They are holes that could be filled by pieces on the roster, like Meechie Johnson Jr., Zed Key and Eugene Brown III. They are holes that could be filled by the five freshman in Ohio State’s top-five recruiting class — No. 1 in the Big Ten.

But Branham provided the Buckeyes a level of certainty, an upward trajectory in the final three months of his freshman season.

And that’s what he saw too, developing a scoring touch with a body that could fill out and face both guards and forwards, showing the play-making promise of someone to build an offense around.

It’s a trajectory that gives him an opportunity to see what he can do at the NBA level, something he has always dreamed of doing.

“As a basketball player growing up, my dream has always been to play in the NBA,” Branham wrote in his statement. “All the long hours in the gym, the sacrifices I, as well as my family, have made and simply just following the plan God has for me has brought me to this point.”

With Liddell and Branham on Ohio State’s roster, the Buckeyes fell short, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Villanova.

And while Ohio State has a track record of players testing the process and coming back for another year — something both Liddell and Kaleb Wesson did — Branham seems ahead of the curve.

For a player that showed as much growth as he did in the final three months of his freshman season, it may be something he wants an NBA team to continue to further.

And for Ohio State, for a team that has a lot of questions without Liddell, Branham’s departure only furthers those questions.