The lottery balls have fallen into place, the draft order is set and the combine is in the books.
The NBA draft is now under a month away and two former Buckeyes are expected to hear their names called before the first 30 picks are in on June 23. Per most prognosticators, Malaki Branham and E.J. Liddell are slated as virtual first-round locks, which would give Ohio State its first Round 1 draft choices since D’Angelo Russell in 2015 (and first overall draft selection since Keita Bates-Diop was a second-round pick in 2018).
Branham and Liddell are in line to be Chris Holtmann’s first-ever first-round draft picks, a noteworthy benchmark in its own right that he hopes will pay dividends for his program down the line.