E.J. Liddell is “the guy” for Ohio State.
He might not have started his sophomore season with that title, but he certainly attained it somewhere along the way, becoming the first Buckeye since Keita Bates-Diop to be named first-team All-Big Ten. Liddell’s decision to return for a junior year made him just the sixth Ohio State player in the past 30 years to come back the following year after earning a first-team all-conference honor, and without Duane Washington in 2021-22, the Illinois native is undoubtedly the top option for the Buckeyes.
Liddell’s on-court importance for Ohio State this season is so obvious that head coach Chris Holtmann elected to highlight other qualities about his star player when discussing Liddell at Big Ten basketball media days in Indianapolis last week.