Buckeyes Stars Malaki Branham And Ej Liddell Shined Bright In Recent NBA Draft Pick

Malaki Branham

The Ohio State University must be proud of having two of their best players land a spot in the NBA Draft pick held last June 23, 2022. Buckeyes Malaki Branham and EJ Liddell prided their university when their names were called by the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans, respectively.

What Makes These Two Players Special To Be Selected In The NBA?

Malaki Branham And Ej Liddell
Malaki Branham And Ej Liddell

Malaki Branham and EJ Liddell

Both Malaki and EJ had great collegiate careers, with Malaki especially impressing scouts with his athleticism and shooting ability. OSU will no doubt miss having these two talented young players on their team, but they can take comfort in knowing they have helped to produce two more potential NBA stars.

MALAKI BRANHAM was drafted as the first round’s 20th pick by the San Antonio Spurs. The 6-foot-5-inch shooting guard averaged 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2 assists, per game in his junior year with the Buckeyes. Branham is a lethal scorer from all three levels.

This player is especially dangerous from beyond the arc. He’s a knock-down shooter with deep range. And he’s not afraid to pull up from anywhere on the court, even with a … Read more at FryingPanSports

Combo Guard George Washington III

Out of the Class of 2023 Combo Guard George Washington III has committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes. He became the first member of Chris Holtmann’s new college recruiting class. Washington attended High School at Christian Academy Of Louisville. His height and weight are 6’2″ 165 lbs. George Washington is best described as a two guard in a point guards body.

Washington has a player rating of 4 Stars, considered the 9th best combo guard in the country and the 2nd best player overall in Kentucky. He felt that OSU offered a system that he could fit into and they were in need of a player like himself.

George Washington III
George Washington III

Who’s recruiting him?

Washington had five offers including Ohio State, Auburn, Liberty, Louisville, and Tennessee. Coach Holtmann and (OSU assistant Ryan) Pedon were responsible for bringing this highly sought after talent to Columbus Ohio.

George Washington III Visits

Washington had one coach visit, namely Rod Clark from Tennessee. He also took unofficial visits to Louisville September 18th and Tennessee on September 11th. Washington made an official visit to Ohio State the November 1st weekend, shortly before becoming a part of their new class. He committed to Ohio State … Read more at FryingPanSports

Ohio State Welcomes Joey Brunk

Joey Brunk

Ohio State has welcomed center Joey Brunk to its men’s basketball program just over a week after he announced that he would be transferring from Indiana. He is the second player to join the Buckeyes through the off-season transfer portal following former Penn State player Jamari Wheeler.

Joey Brunk commits to Ohio State
Joey Brunk commits to Ohio State

Joey Brunk, with a height of 6-feet 11-inches and weighing 225 pounds, began his college basketball career at Butler where he was a feature for three seasons. He also had a red-shirt year, in 2016-17, with now Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann, so is not a complete unknown. He transferred to Indiana before the 2019-20 season where he averaged 6.8 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Hoosiers in an average of 19 minutes play per game. It means that Brunk will be entering his sixth and last season of college basketball by playing with the first coach he ever signed with.

Brunk did not play any of last season because of surgery he undertook for a back injury. Even during his absence he was voted among one of four players by his teammates as a candidate for team captain. Now back to full strength, … Read more at FryingPanSports

Ohio State Basketball adds transfer Justice Sueing from Cal

Justice Sueing transferred from California to the Buckeyes. Head Coach Chris Holtmann informed everyone of the addition of Sueing, a 6’7″ forward originally from Honolulu Hawaii. Sueing posted his transfer destination on May the 10th on Twitter.

Justice Sueing
Justice Sueing

Sueing played two years for the Golden Bears and will have two years of eligibility with Ohio State after red-shirting this upcoming season to comply with undergraduate NCAA transfer rules.

Cal had few bright spots last season finishing 8-23 overall, but Sueing was one. The Golden Bears completed Pac-12 play 3-15 with their head coach Wyking Jones being let go by the school after the season. Sueing entered the transfer portal shortly thereafter.

He arrives in Columbus following a productive two seasons in Berkley. He led his team in scoring (14.3 points per game), steals (1.7) and rebounds (6/game) last year. As a true freshman, Sueing had 13.8 points/game and 5.4 boards/game.

He also brings the ability to get free-throws, something Ohio State has lacked. In 2018/2019 he averaged 5.3 attempts per match. Only Kaleb Wesson average more last season for the Buckeyes.

Sueing will become eligible at the right time for OSU. Andre Wesson will graduate at the end … Read more at FryingPanSports

My thoughts on this week in sports

Dorsey 1 Jackson 0

Jackson wanted AJ McCarren but was over ruled. Dorsey clearly has the ear of Browns ownership that allowed him to sign Tyrod Taylor over Jackson’s objections. That was a good move because Taylor helped the Bills get to the playoffs. The book on McCarren has mostly blank pages.

The Cavs have fallen and can’t get up.

Having lost 2 games to the Clippers then to the lowly Lakers, their chances of getting to the NBA finals don’t look good. That is hard for me to say because at one time I was a part owner of the Caves when they were a publicly held company.

The Buckeye’s basketball team got disted by the NCAA.

The “New Criteria” for ranking is supposed to devalue the last 10 games. That did not apply to the Bucks. The team stumbled badly late in the season and lost the 1st playoff game in the Big 10 Tourney. The NCAA gave them a 5th seed and a very bad matchup.

The Legion of Boom is now the Friendly Skies of United

CB Richard Sherman is a very dedicated man. He will give fits to the Seahawks for years … Read more at FryingPanSports

Tonight on the FINAL News, Notes and Rumors program

Tonight on the FINAL News, Notes and Rumors program

 

Tonight will be the last regularly scheduled NNR program.  Health issues are forcing me to end the show after 3 plus years on the Internet.  I would like to thank the regular listeners.  I have deeply appreciated your support.

Tony Williams Knicks and Giants beat writer for Metro New York Paper joins us to preview the last half of the NFL schedule.

Doug Upstone of Sports-Watch.com and 3dailywinners.com joins us to talk about the top college games this week.

Tim Bielik Browns, Cavs and Buckeyes beat writer for Loraine Morning Journal joins us to talk about those teams.

Samantha Bunten joins us to talk Browns.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com.  He has also published several novels on and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/.

He edits . Also listen to the best Sports Talk anywhere on the Internet and hear his sports show Monday-Thursday 6-7:30 PM EST on or http://mooheadradio.com/2.5/?page_id=21.  You can catch any interviews you missed on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

Read more at FryingPanSports