Ohio State’s EJ Liddell named AP third-team All-American

Ohio State forward EJ Liddell came into the 2021-22 season expected to be one of the best players in the country. The junior delivered in a big way throughout the year.

On Tuesday, Liddell was recognized for his performances this season when he was named to the Associated Press All-American third team after he was an honorable mention on the AP list last season. Liddell was recently named a first-team All-Big Ten performer by the conference’s coaches and media. He is joined on the AP third team by Paolo Banchero of Duke, Collin Gillespie of Villanova, Walker Kessler of Auburn and James Akinjo of Baylor and JD Notae of Arkansas, who tied for the final spot.

For the second year in a row, Liddell put together an impressive season for the Buckeyes. The forward led the Scarlet and Gray in points (19.6), rebounds (7.9), blocks (2.6) and minutes (33.1) per game. Liddell shot 49.2 percent from the court and 37.6 percent from three-point range, both career highs while also averaging 2.5 assists and 0.5 steals per contest.

Liddell managed to score in double figures in all 30 games Ohio State played this year, extending his streak of consecutive games with at least 10 points to 41. He set a new career high in scoring with 35 points in the Buckeyes’ early January win at Northwestern. Later that month, Liddell became the 60th Buckeye to score 1,000 career points in a victory at Minnesota.

Throughout the season, the junior registered eight double-doubles after he had just five 10-plus points/rebound performances in his first two years with the Scarlet and Gray combined. Liddell is the only player in the country this season to average at least 19.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.5 assists, something only two players over the last 26 years — Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan and Rider’s Jason Thompson — have accomplished over a full season.

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The AP’s first-team All-American list included Keegan Murray of Iowa, Kofi Cockburn of Illinois, Johnny Davis of Wisconsin, Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky and Ochai Agbaji of Kansas. The second-team AP All-American team consisted of Drew Timme and Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga, Jaden Ivey of Purdue, Jabari Smith of Auburn and Bennedict Mathurin of Arizona. The AP’s honorable mentions were David Roddy of Colorado State, Armando Bacot of North Carolina, Johnny Juzang of UCLA, Alondes Williams of Wake Forest, Tari Eason of LSU, Zach Edey of Purdue, Max Abmas of Oral Roberts and Ron Harper Jr. of Rutgers.

Despite struggles down the stretch, Ohio State earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed. The Buckeyes will take on No. 10 seed Loyola Chicago on Friday in Pittsburgh as part of the South Region. That game is scheduled to tip off at 12:15 p.m. ET and will air on CBS.