Ohio State basketball: E.J. Liddell finalist for Wooden Award

The Ohio State basketball team has a player who is a finalist for the Wooden Award as the top 15 finalists were announced on Saturday.

E.J. Liddell has been the best player on the Ohio State basketball team all year long. He has been a force both inside and outside the paint. His play went largely unnoticed through the first part of the season, but now he has finally gotten the recognition that he deserves.

Liddell was announced to be one of the 15 finalists for the Wooden Award, which honors the best basketball player in the country. Liddell is the only one of the 15 finalists who wasn’t in the previous round of voting, which shows how disrespected he was earlier this season.

Ohio State wouldn’t be this good of a team without the play of Liddell. He is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Buckeyes. His pick and pop game is really crucial because he is a threat to hit three-pointers off the roll. He doesn’t do it at a great clip, but it’s enough to keep the defense honest.

Liddell is one of four Big Ten players who are finalists for the award. Luka Garza, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Ayo Dosunmu are all on this list as well. All of these players have been critical for their teams and are deserving finalists.

I would be shocked if Liddell won this award. All of the National Player of Year awards seem to be earmarked for Garza this year. Even so, it is still nice to be included in a list of the best players in America. This is the kind of potential that we saw he had at the end of last season.

Hopefully, Liddell can help lead Ohio State to a victory today over Illinois. It’s a game they need to win very badly.