E.J. Liddell

Liddell was born Dec. 18, 2000, in Belleville Illinois. He came on to the scene as a junior at Belleville High School West, where he won the 2018 Illinois Mr. Basketball award and the Illinois 4A class state championship, averaging 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He finished off his senior season averaging 20.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game. His high school repeated as state champs, and he won Illinois Mr. Basketball again. Liddell was a consensus four-star recruit and ranked as the best player in the state of Illinois. On Oct. 1, 2018, Liddell committed to playing college basketball for Ohio State over scholarship offers from teams such as Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Liddell came off the bench during his freshman year, averaging 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He played in all 31 games and was second on the team with 29 blocks. During his sophomore year, he averaged 16.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. On March 31, 2021, Liddell declared for the 2021 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility. He later withdrew from the draft and announced that would return to Ohio State for his junior season. He posted his best numbers as a player, averaging 19.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. On March 25, 2022, Liddell declared for the 2022 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility. He was selected in the second round with the 41st pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans.