2020 Four-Star Shooting Guard Malaki Branham Commits To Ohio State

Earlier this week, the Ohio State Buckeyes got some exciting news as 2021 prospect Malaki Branham announced that he would be committing to the program. Branham is the highest-rated prospect to commit to the Buckeyes since D’Angelo Russell in 2014. As such, fans and Chris Holtmann have to be ecstatic with the pickup.

Branham is listed as 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds by 247Sports and comes out of Akron, Ohio. Along with Ohio State, he also had offers from Alabama, Baylor, Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Xavier among others. Branham is rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports and as the 27th best player in the 2021 recruiting class. He’s considered the best player in Ohio this year.

As noted above, Branham is not only an elite prospect, but he’s the highest rated commitment for the Buckeyes since 2014 when Russell joined the program. This is a guy who could have went to a vast number of programs nationally and decided to join Holtmann and his staff. He’s really aggressive on the offensive glass and knows how to move well without the ball. It’s an absolutely monster pickup.

With Branham’s commitment, Ohio State’s class is now ranked atop the Big Ten in the 2021 cycle and second nationally by 247Sports. The class also features two other four-star commitments in Kalen Etzler and Meechie Johnson. It’s unlikely Holtmann is finished just yet, but this would be a great haul even without an additional pickups. Buckeye fans have to be excited to hear that, especially in an offseason unlike any other.