On Monday evening, four-star (Rivals and 247Sports) basketball prospect E.J. Liddell announced a verbal commitment to Ohio State, choosing the Buckeyes over his final two other schools, in Illinois and Missouri. Liddell, a 6-foot-7, 220 pound senior, attends East High School in Belleville, Illinois, just east of St. Louis.
The “miss” on the recruiting trail by Missouri Head Coach Cuonzo Martin means that the Tigers will not be able to pair up on commitments over the seven-day period, after St. Louis Vashon wing Mario McKinney Jr. committed to MU on Monday, September 24th. The verbal commit to OSU did not come as a huge surprise, with rumors around media circles heading into the weekend indicating that Liddell was a Buckeye lean.
A native of East St. Louis, Coach Martin has found immediate success in his home-town region while at Missouri, after decades seeing the program struggle to keep talent from the Gateway City in-state. Last year, Jeremiah Tilmon of East St. Louis came to the Tigers, while Torrence Watson of Whitfield High School is a freshman for Missouri this season. Edwardsville, Illinois native Mark Smith transferred to MU from Illinois last offseason.
Photo credit – Paul Halfacre / STLhighschoolsports.com / Belleville, IL
