Ohio State basketball: E.J. Liddell should come back to school

The Ohio State basketball team could be in danger of losing their best player to the NBA. But if he’s smart, he would return to Columbus for his junior year.

E.J. Liddell was the best player for the Ohio State basketball team in 2020. He made First-Team All-Big Ten and the offense went through him. He really improved from his freshman year to his sophomore year and made a leap like we thought he could.

In fact, he made such a large leap that he has decided to put his name in for the NBA Draft. He wants to see what value he would have in the league at this point. Even though he is doing this, he can still return to Ohio State if he doesn’t like what he hears.

Returning to the Ohio State basketball team for one more year is probably the right move for Liddell. As great as he is in college, he’s a tweener in the NBA at 6’7. He isn’t big enough to be a stretch four and he’s not agile enough to be a three.

Liddell needs to work on getting more physical if he wants to be a four. He doesn’t have the ball skills to be a three. He can’t put the ball on the floor outside the post. That’s a problem if you want to be a small forward in the NBA. He also is too slow to guard most threes.

On offense, Liddell needs to work on having a more consistent three-point shot. Being a better deep threat will increase his value to teams in the league. He’s physical enough to guard most modern fours, but he needs to keep spacing available.

Playing one more year for the Buckeyes would help him develop these traits. It would also give him a chance to keep improving his already fantastic post-game as well. He would truly benefit from spending one more year in college. I’m not just saying that as a Buckeye fan.

I hope he gets good advice and feels good about whatever decision he ultimately makes.