Rival Views: Which four-star prospect is the most important?

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It's never easy to miss out on a player, but missing on some stings much more than missing on some others. We spend plenty of time discussing the no-brainer, elite one-and-dones but which player ranked a little lower, who is likely to be around a few years, is the most important? This week we take a look at which four-star is the most critical recruit. As usual, national basketball anlaysts Eric Bossi and Corey Evans have Rival Views.

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In trying to decide which player to settle on, I started asking myself which player's choice is going to sting the most when he makes it. That narrowed the group down but when I started to look at whose choice could have tremendous impact on multiple programs, I couldn't help but settle in on skilled combo forward E.J. Liddell.

Down to Illinois, Kansas State, Missouri, Ohio State and Wisconsin, Liddell has been at the center of arguably the most intense Midwestern recruiting battle. Early in his recruitment it was expected to be a contest between the Illini and the Tigers. The Illini are in-state, assistant Jamall Walker has been recruiting Liddell forever and Brad Underwood has made him a priority. Across the border and a few hours west on I-70, Cuonzo Martin knows the landscape around Liddell well. Along the way Kansas State gained a lot of traction through sheer will and effort, while Ohio State quietly slid into the mix and became a program that many thought led heading into his official visit to Columbus last weekend.

The school that people are talking about the least, Wisconsin, likely needs Liddell the most of any team involved but the Badgers don't seem to have the best of chances. Wherever he lands, Liddell is an impact rebounder and inside/out scorer, but the level to which missing on him stings to varying degrees. While it would hurt either Kansas State or Ohio State to miss on him, they would get over it. The blow that Illinois or Missouri would feel -- particularly if one of those programs lost him to the other -- would be one of the most crushing incurred by any staff in America this recruiting cycle.

I don't know where Liddell is going to go just yet, but if I'm Illinois, Kansas State, Missouri or Wisconsin, I'm at least feeling good that Liddell has made it this far after his Ohio State visit without committing to the Buckeyes. Mizzou is up next this weekend and we'll see where things go from there for Liddell.

C.J. Walker captured the nation’s attention in July with a dominant month that was captured on stat sheets and highlight mixtapes. That upward trend only brought more programs into his recruitment but now that Walker is down to a final five of Florida, Miami, Oregon, LSU and Arizona, for which program is he most critical?

I don’t think it is Oregon, though the Ducks could definitely put the top-50 forward to work in Dana Altman’s up-and-down system. The same could be said for Florida as its frontcourt is not bare. Miami is pretty full in the frontcourt, too, with the expected returns of several key contributors. Looking at Arizona, Sean Miller has become known for his reliance on multiple big man lineups and the Wildcats are deep in the hunt for several other top targets.

This all brings us to LSU. The Tigers recently enrolled Emmitt Williams and Nazreon Reid but the duo along with Kavell Bigby-Williams could all be out the door by the time spring rolls around. While Arizona, Florida, Miami and Oregon would love to add Walker, he might not be as critical to their efforts as he is for Will Wade's program.