The roster of the Ohio State basketball team continues to become more and more solidified. While the Buckeyes have lost a lot of guys to graduation and received good news on returning players and transfers, it has been waiting on one, big, key decision from a player looking at the NBA.
That player, of course, is outgoing freshman sensation Malaki Branham. He initially declared for the NBA draft to go through the process because, well — why wouldn’t you — but left it open to coming back in the scarlet and gray.
Today, Branham met with the media alongside head coach Chris Holtmann and let the world know that he will be staying in the NBA draft and ending his career in Columbus because of positive feedback he received.
“Being a first-round pick, that was the biggest feedback I needed,” Branham said at a press conference announcing his decision inside Value City Arena Wednesday.
Branham is widely projected as a first-round pick, with some mocks having him going very high in the first round. He had a slow start to his freshman season, but turned it on through the last part of the year, and even drew praise from opposing coaches as being the best player on OSU’s squad at the tail-end of the year.
As always, Chris Holtmann was positive and supportive of the decision.
“This is obviously a big day for Malaki and his family,” Holtmann said. “It’ll be an even bigger day on June 23. It’s a great day for he, his family, it’s a great day for our program. It’ll be a great day for Ohio State when he hears his name called.”
In his one year at Ohio State, Branham 13.4 points per contest, but 17.0 during the last 22 games of the year. He shot 41.6% from 3-point range and 49.8% from the floor overall.
"This was something we wanted to do 4 Malaki," Chris Holtmann said at the end of today's press conference. "1 year goes by pretty quickly. We appreciate all the fans who have supported him and will continue to support him in the next phase of his career." https://t.co/JdH7vH2xNS
— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) April 27, 2022
While this is obviously disappointing for Ohio State fans, you can’t blame a guy for taking advantage of an opportunity to live out a dream and strike while the iron is hot. We’ll be following and rooting for Branham as he takes the next step in his career at the next and highest level of the game.
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