Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell Speaks Out After Getting Harassed On Social Media

Ohio State was just one of many college basketball teams who have already been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by a ‘Cinderella’.

The #2 seeded Buckeyes lost in the first round to a #15 seed Oral Roberts team who now find themselves in the Sweet 16. While many Ohio State fans are still hurting from the unexpected loss, some handled it a little better than others.

Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell revealed some very troubling messages he received on social media after the game.

Honestly, what did I do to deserve this? I’m human. pic.twitter.com/djXzhSH0q8

— E.J. Liddell (@EasyE2432) March 20, 2021

Now, Liddell has opened up about receiving such disgusting DMs.

“I’ve never done anything to make someone say something like that to me,” Liddell said to Sports Illustrated. “I can’t imagine a fan would take a loss harder than me. I’m out there on the court working hard to win. It doesn’t make any sense.”

[sportsbookaffiliates]

Ohio State has launched an investigation into the matter, and head coach Chris Holtmann also released a statement on the E.J. Liddell messages.

“These comments, while not from or representative of Ohio State fans, are vile, dangerous and reflect the worst of humanity,” Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann said in a statement. “E.J. is an outstanding young man who had a tremendous sophomore season and he was instrumental in our team’s success. We will take the necessary actions here at the University to address this immediately.”

For now, Liddell says that he has extra protection, just in case some of these threats are for real.

“Extra patrol cars around the neighborhood and things like that,” Liddell said. “I know a lot of fans act out of emotion, leaving comments under our posts. Hopefully, they can realize that threats are taken seriously. In the world we live in anything can happen.”

A lot of times, social media brings out the worst in our society, and the E.J. Liddell messages is a clear example of just that.

Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!