Wise Beyond His Years, Malaki Branham Makes The Right Plays At The Right Time

Chris Holtmann calls Branham one of the most mature freshmen he's ever coached

Spencer German | Feb 22, 2022

If Big Ten basketball fans weren't familiar with the name Malaki Branhan yet, they should be now – especially with March right around the corner.

Branham's latest entry to his growing reputation as one of OSU's most important players: a 27-point, five rebounds, three assists and two block performance, that pushed his team past a scrappy Indiana team in overtime, 80-69. Branham shot 69-percent from the floor and a perfect eight-for-eight from the free-throw line.

It was brilliant. The true freshman is carving out a name for himself as the much-needed Robin to the Buckeyes Batman that is one E.J. Liddell.

"I've said before the season even started when I first met [Malaki] that he was a bucket getter," Liddell said of his young teammate. "As the year goes on he's gonna keep getting better and better. It's like he's seeing the game a lot better, it's slowing down and he had a great night all around."

Branham's development hasn't gone unnoticed by Chris Holtman either. In his fifth year in charge of the Buckeyes, Holtmann sees the game slowing down for the true freshman too.

"We've evolved into [using Branham off of ball screens] a lot in the last month," Holtmman explained following the win over Indian. "We weren't that way at the beginning of the year because his game wasn't at that point at the beginning of the year. It was still a little too fast for him."

That's not the only thing that's left Holtmann impressed though.

"His maturity level is elevated," he added. "I've said that all along. He's one of the most mature freshmen I've ever coached, across the board. Really high maturity level. Some of that is with his IQ and feel for the game – which has really grown."

That maturity was on full display in the final 15 seconds of Monday's win, when Holtmann put the ball in his hands to try and tie the game. Branham danced around a couple of ball screens looking for a lane to the basket to no avail, and suddenly time was of the essence.

Where many players would have taken a hero ball approach and chucked up a contested shot, Branham was unphased, keeping the play alive long enough to find a wide-open Liddell along the baseline who flushed home a game-tying dunk.

The Schottenstein Center went bonkers. The Buckeyes fed off that in overtime. The rest is history.

"I just look for the right play." Branham said. "I'm not a guy that forces up a bad shot. I just kind of read the game. Like E.J. said, it's slowing down for me so I took my time and E.J. was wide open so I just got it to him."

There are plenty of upperclassmen lacking the late-game awareness and unselfishness Branham has shown. No wonder Holtmann has learned to trust him more and more throughout the season.

"We've gotta make sure we're getting the ball to our playmakers and sometimes that changes, Holtmann said. "You know E.J. was struggling getting to his spots tonight. But 22 was a fantastic playmaker tonight, both for himself and for others. I give Malaki a lot of credit."

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