College Basketball
E.J. Liddell Verbally Commits to Ohio State
Starting out with 19 scholarships, West Belleville basketball star E.J. Liddell chose one school to call his future home. The Ohio State Buckeyes were recipients of great news, as Liddell verbally committed to them after also considering four others. The other four schools on Liddell’s list included Kansas State, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
The decision was not an easy one, according to Liddell who spoke with a local news reporter.
“It was hard because I had a lot of great options and I could have gone anywhere. It was very difficult because I turned down my home state and the state next to us (Missouri). I’ve had relationships with the coaches for a long time and now I’m breaking bonds with them. It’s tough.’’
Mr. Illinois Basketball
Liddell’s case for being named ‘Mr. Basketball’ in the state of Illinois definitely has numbers to support the reason. E.J. saw 708 points last season, averaging 20 a game over the course of 34 games. The total also saw Liddell’s career number rise to over 1,700, which broke the West Belleville record. He also had close to 100 assists with around eight rebounds per game.
Equally as impressive is his defense, showcasing his skills in last year’s tournament. During the championship game, Liddell blocked a tournament-record seven shots. In the state semifinals, his opponents saw him block three shots in just two possessions.
Other Accolades
Liddell riddles himself with accomplishments, despite not being widely known to the entire state voters. He won the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year Award, won MVP of two separate tournaments, named to the All-Tournament team during the Chick-Fil-A Classic and selected to the First All-State Team by the Associated Press (AP).
All of this on top of receiving a total of 19 scholarships from prestigious programs such as DePaul, Georgetown, Connecticut, Iowa, and Marquette. Liddell’s commitment also marks the third of the top 50 players Ohio State successfully recruited.
Family Matters
The decision to commit with Ohio State was not an easy one, according to Liddell. With Illinois bordering states looking at Liddell, the choice to play for Missouri was a realistic possibility. Liddell’s relationship with Missouri coaches was a strong one, as he also chose to not stay within the state despite a good relationship with Illinois coaches.
One of the life events that made Liddell’s decision more difficult was the death of his grandfather. John Rucker passed away over the weekend, something Liddell was expecting but difficult nonetheless.
Liddell tweeted out on Saturday when his decision to commit would be announced, along with the sad news of his grandfather. With the announcement taking place yesterday, the young talent of E.J. Liddell now has a new family to look forward to growing with. Heading to a school that finished second in the Big Ten (after voted to finish near the bottom), along with playing under Chris Holtmann (Big Ten Coach of the Year), should make Liddell’s new family transition a fun and easy one. Congratulations E.J.
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Photo Credit: Paul Halfacre via Twitter
