As basketballs were bouncing all around the Schottenstein Center for Ohio State’s Team Camp Friday, OSU coach Chris Holtmann and his staff rolled out the welcome mat for a national top-75 prospect.
E.J. Liddell, a power forward from Belleville (Ill.) West, made an unofficial visit to Ohio State. The 6-8, 220-pound Liddell is rated as the nation’s No. 61 prospect overall, No. 11 power forward and No. 2 overall in Illinois for 2019, according to the 247Sports Composite.
“I liked the facilities and I loved the campus,” Liddell said. “The campus surprised me because it was really big, but it was not spaced out like I thought it might be. You could walk around. You don’t need that much transportation to get from place to place.”
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OSU has one commitment for 2019 in national top-30 forward Alonzo Gaffney of Garfield Heights, Ohio. The Buckeyes have two more scholarships available as they look for a point guard and another forward, most likely.
“They said they need two versatile forwards,” Liddell said. “(Gaffney) is a guy who plays on the wing most of the time. I am a guy who can play on the wing and in the post. We complement each other because he can shoot. He needs to get better and what I’m good at, posting up, and I need to get better at what he’s good at, which is shooting threes.”
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“I don’t have any other camps or visits planned right now,” he said. “I went to Illinois about a month-and-a-half ago for one of our school programs.
“I’m taking my time and getting out to places when I can. I’m not really rushing things right now. I’ve already been to Illinois. I don’t know if I will get back up there anytime soon. Wisconsin called me and they want me to come up there, but I don’t know when I will be available to get up there.”
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