CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: The Lou Henson signature is seen on the court before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) The Illinois basketball team will soon find out if they have landed one of their main targets for the class of 2019. On Saturday night, EJ Liddell took to Twitter to announce that he will be committing to a program on Monday night at 6:00 PM Central Time. This is when he will make a decision between either Missouri, Ohio State and Illinois. Liddell is a 6-foot-7, 220-pound power forward from Belleville West High School in Belleville, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 48 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 10 power forward in the nation. This isn’t just any regular recruit for the Illini, though. They need Liddell for many reasons. The Illini need size in the paint, and Liddell would be able to play the No. 4 position for this program moving forward. He isn’t your typical bigger player either. This kid can jump out of the gym and create some serious mismatches for the opposing team. I think this decision is massive for the Illini because of the impact it would have on recruiting. Not only would Liddell be a big commitment on the court but if he does pick Illinois, that would give Brad Underwood the top overall recruit in the state of Illinois for back-to-back classes. In the class of 2018, Underwood was able to snap Ayo Dosunmu who was ranked No. 1 player in the state. Liddell would be the next big in-state recruit. He is also rated No. 1 overall in the class of 2019. That recruiting impact on the program would be invaluable. Monday night is going to either go down as a great moment for the Illinois basketball team and their fan base, or it is going to go down as a bad moment where most fans will worry about what is going to happen for the class of 2019. Some people will also question what Underwood is doing as a coach. I sure hope it is a great night for the Illini. We need to add to the class of 2019 and starting with Liddell would be huge. This could be the start of something special.<doc-sep>Belleville (Ill.) West power forward E.J. Liddell is prepared to announce his verbal commitment at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central tonight on Twitter. The 6-8, 220-pound Liddell is ranked as the nation’s No. 48 prospect overall, No. 10 power forward and No. 1 in Illinois, according to the 247Sports Composite. Liddell made official visits in recent weeks to Ohio State (Aug. 31), Missouri (Sept. 7) and Illinois (Sept. 21). OSU already has verbals from a pair of national top-30 prospects in Carton (ranked 21st) and Gaffney (29th). The OSU class is currently ranked 13th nationally and first in the Big Ten. A Liddell verbal would likely move OSU into the top 10. "EJ Liddell is one of the toughest kids in the entire country," said 247Sports basketball recruiting analyst Brian Snow. "He plays as hard as any player in this class, and has good athleticism. He is an undersized power forward more than he is wing, but his toughness and production are second to known. If he can improve his perimeter skills he has a chance to be special. Even if he doesn't, he is the type of high level four year contributor that coaches love." OSU head coach Chris Holtmann has one scholarship available for 2019 signees and was said to be looking for a “versatile forward.” Liddell helped Belleville West post a 31-2 record and win the Illinois Class 4A state championship. The Maroons defeated Chicago Whitney Young 60-56 in the championship game as Liddell had 17 points and 10 rebounds. That was after a 24-point, seven-block effort in a state semifinal win over Elgin Larkin. For the year, Liddell averaged 20.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He was the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and was named to the MaxPreps All-American third team. Belleville West won its first-ever state basketball title and ended the year ranked 13th nationally in the MaxPreps rankings. “I want to keep improving on everything – my scoring, my rebounding, blocking shots and my passing,” Liddell said previously. “I’m doing everything I can to get better for next year. I want to go back out and win the state championship again. I want to be the Gatorade Player of the Year again, win Mr. Basketball and be an All-American based on my performance.” Liddell’s stock rose this spring as he played for the Bradley Beal Elite team, which went 11-5 in Nike EYBL play. Over 16 games, Liddell averaged 14.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He shot 52 percent from the floor (74 of 143) and 67 percent at the foul line (69 of 103). He was in double figures in 14 of those 16 games, including two 20-point games. He had 20 points, five rebounds and five blocks against Woodz Elite and 17 points and 13 rebounds against MEBO Team Hood. In five games at the Nike Peach Jam, Liddell averaged 13.8 points and 9.2 rebounds. Appearing in The 8 tournament in Las Vegas in July, Liddell had 29 points in one game and 21 points in another. The Buckeyes began practice for the 2018-19 season last week. Stay tuned for more preseason coverage in the days ahead as well as coverage of the Liddell verbal tonight.<doc-sep>ESPN 100 forward E.J. Liddell announced his commitment to Ohio State on Monday. Liddell chose the Buckeyes over Missouri and Illinois. The 6-foot-7 Belleville West (Illinois) product was considered to be leaning toward Ohio State coming out of the summer but took official visits to all three of his finalists. At times over the past month, both Illinois and Missouri seemed to have an edge for Liddell's commitment. But coach Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes won him over with their consistent and lengthy pursuit. Ranked No. 44 in the ESPN 100, Liddell is a productive and physical power forward who prefers to do most of his work around the basket. He averaged 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds for Brad Beal Elite on the Nike EYBL circuit last spring and summer, while also blocking nearly 2 shots per game. Liddell is the third ESPN 100 commitment for Ohio State in the 2019 class. He joins five-star point guard D.J. Carton (No. 24) and four-star wing Alonzo Gaffney (No. 29), making the Buckeyes the lone program in the country with three top-50 prospects already in the fold.<doc-sep>Finally, after taking official visits to all three finalists, it’s time for E.J. Liddell to make a decision — and Ohio State is right in the mix, if not the favorite. The four-star forward has Illinois, Missouri and the Buckeyes in his top three entering Monday. A 6-foot-7, 220-pound power forward from Belleville, Illinois, Liddell is the No. 48 overall player in the nation, the 10th-best power forward and the top player in his home state. Liddell, who has stayed silent about his recruitment since beginning to take visits to his three finalists, took an official visit to Ohio State on Aug. 31. One week later, he took his official visit to Missouri. Two weeks after that, he took his final official visit to see Illinois, his hometown school. And now, it’s decision time. Liddell will announce his decision at 7 p.m. Monday (6 p.m. central). It’s hard to overstate how big of a recruiting win snagging Liddell would be for Chris Holtmann, just a little more than one year removed from leaving Butler to take the Ohio State job. Ohio State already has commitments from five-star guard D.J. Carton and four-star forward Alonzo Gaffney. Though both Gaffney and Liddell are long, 6-foot-9 wings, Holtmann wants as many lanky wings as possible, so both would fit on the Buckeyes if Liddell opted to commit to them. A commitment from Liddell would give Ohio State three top-50 prospects — a five-star and two high four-stars — and bump its recruiting class up from No. 13 to No. 4 in the country, behind USC, Louisville and Kentucky. It would be the first time in nine years, since the Buckeyes landed Jared Sullinger, Deshaun Thomas and Jordan Siebert, that they signed three top-50 prospects. Even without Liddell, no recruiting class in the Big Ten has a higher-ranked group of 2019 prospects, so this would just strengthen its already top-ranked conference class. All three commitments would be higher-ranked prospects than the four the Buckeyes landed in their 2018 recruiting class, Holtmann’s first as head coach. Ohio State has been involved in his recruitment for a while. Holtmann’s program offered him a scholarship in January. Liddell has been in constant contact with the coaching staff since then. In April, Liddell tweeted out a photo of him standing with Holtmann and assistant coach Ryan Pedon, with the caption saying, “Great first home visit with Ohio State.” On his official visit, Liddell attended the season-opening football game against Oregon State with the entire basketball team with Gaffney and Carton. The day Carton committed, he told Adam Zagoria of the New York Times that he’s trying to recruit Liddell to join him at Ohio State. Two-and-a-half months later, that might happen. Ten of the 11 predictors on 247Sports expect Liddell to choose Ohio State. Late Sunday night, four-star Zeke Nnaji announced his top-five schools. Though it could just be a coincidence that the Buckeyes were not in the mix for the 6-foot-11 2019 forward with offers from top-level programs, such as Arizona and Kansas, it might mean he knows the spot Ohio State was recruiting him for will not longer be open, as of 7 p.m. Monday night. Ohio State’s recruiting “bread basket” Liddell lives a 6-hour, 20-minute drive from Columbus, which puts him right in Ohio State’s “bread basket,” a term Holtmann referred to at media day on Wednesday to describe the program’s recruiting base. Holtmann defined the “bread basket” as anywhere within a five-to-seven-hour radius of Columbus. “That's really what is extremely important for us to recruit, and to recruit well,” Holtmann said. “It is this bread basket of five to seven hours where we can recruit in the midwest. Certainly, we want to recruit Ohio well. We really need to recruit Ohio, those two things together effectively. And then, occasionally, you'll go outside of those areas to recruit.” There will “occasionally” be some “national guys” that Ohio State hopes to land, Holtmann said. Luther Muhammad, a freshman guard, hails from New Jersey and fellow freshman Jaedon LeDee is from Texas, well outside of the “bread basket.” But, most of the team’s recruits live in the targeted area, especially in the 2019 class. Liddell? Bread basket. Gaffney, who attended Garfield Heights High School until transferring to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire? Bread basket. Carton, a 7-hour drive from Columbus in Bettendorf, Iowa? Bread basket. Ohio State’s successful first season under Holtmann that took nearly everyone by surprise didn’t necessarily give the program an edge in recruiting simply due to its finish in the conference and the NCAA tournament. Holtmann said the two biggest positive impacts on the recruiting trail that came out of last season were the “validation” of his pitch to recruits and Keita Bates-Diop becoming the Big Ten Player of the Year. “They don't get you a recruit,” Holtmann said. “But, they grab the attention of the families when they see the development of a player. But, at the end of the day, they're not doing the work for you.”<doc-sep>
Ohio State's already impressive 2019 basketball recruiting class just got even better. Head coach Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes landed a commitment from four-star forward EJ Liddell Monday — giving the program its third verbal and rounding out the 2019 class alongside Alonzo Gaffney, who committed in April, and DJ Carton, who committed in July. The Liddell File CLASS : 2019 : 2019 SIZE: 6-foot-7, 220 pounds 6-foot-7, 220 pounds POS : PF : PF SCHOOL : Belleville West (IL) : Belleville West (IL) COMPOSITE RATING : ★★★★ : ★★★★ COMPOSITE RANK: 48 After making an unofficial visit to Columbus in June, Liddell included the Buckeyes in his top five choices on Aug. 13 alongside Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Kansas State. He cut the list to three finalists — Ohio State, Missouri and Illinois — and took official visits to each program, beginning with Ohio State on Aug. 31. Then, on Monday, that list dwindled to one. At 6-foot-7, 220 pounds, Liddell was named Illinois Mr. Basketball and earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors at Belleville West High School last season. He averaged 20.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game as a junior and holds school records for points in a season (708) and points in a career (1,759). 247Sports has Liddell ranked as the top player in the state of Illinois and the 10th-best power forward in the nation. Liddell looks to join a team that currently features freshmen Justin Ahrens and Jaedon LeDee, sophomores Kaleb Wesson and Kyle Young and junior Andre Wesson at the forward position. Gaffney is also a forward. While at Belleville West, Liddell has shaped his reputation on a physical presence in the post with the ability to shoot on the perimeter. His versatility is expected to be the perfect compliment to balance out Gaffney and Carton.