COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State junior forward E.J. Liddell has announced he will forego his senior season and enter the NBA Draft.
In a statement posted to social media, Liddell thanked Buckeye Nation and said the past three years have given him some of the best moments of his life.
"I will cherish the time and commitment of Buckeye Nation," he wrote. "I hope the feeling is mutual!"
Liddell also thanked his teammates and the rest of the men's basketball staff. He added playing for head coach Chris Holtmann was the best decision for him as a player and as a person.
“I’m really excited for E.J. as he begins his NBA career,” Holtmann said. “He has developed and grown significantly as a player every single year as a Buckeye, and that will continue to be the case as an NBA player. E.J. has represented our program at the highest level with his excellent play, leadership and of course, his trademark smile. E.J. will always be a Buckeye. We love you, my man.”
This past season, Liddell averaged 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 2.5 assists per game.
Over the last 30 years, he is just the third player to average those numbers over a full season, joining Jason Thompson of Rider and Tim Duncan of Wake Forest.
He scored in double figures in every game this year and had 13 games of 20 or more points.
Liddell became the 33rd Buckeye in program history with 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. He finished with 1,298 career points which is 32nd on the program’s all-time scoring list.
He is also seventh in school history with 143 career blocks.
During his sophomore season, Liddell averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the floor.
As a freshman in 2019-20, he came off the bench in all 31 games and averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest.
