Devin Royal is No. 6 in our Ohio State men's basketball preseason power rankings

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Devin Royal is No. 6 in our Ohio State men's basketball preseason power rankings

Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch · The Columbus Dispatch

Sun, Oct 27, 2024 ·

8 min read

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The first year of the Jake Diebler era will feature the most scholarship players in Ohio State men's basketball history .

Technically, the Buckeyes will feature a full complement of 13 scholarship players for the 2024-25 season. Yet as Ohio State has built its roster for the year and sustained a summer injury to a projected rotation player, first-year coach Jake Diebler was able to add one more piece to the puzzle as a walk-on whose NIL compensation will cover the costs of enrolling at Ohio State.

Projected to finish eighth in the annual unofficial media poll conducted jointly by The Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star , the Buckeyes aim to return to the NCAA Tournament after missing out during each of the last two seasons. Ohio State went 22-14 last season as Diebler was named coach after having taking over midseason on an interim basis.

Sifting through a 16-man roster featuring nine new faces including two walk-ons requires effort, and The Dispatch has you covered. To get ready for the season, The Dispatch is once again rolling out its annual preseason power rankings. Each weekday leading into the Nov. 4 season opener against Texas in Las Vegas , we will count upward while projecting which players will have the biggest roles on the 2023-24 season. This isn't just a measurement of who will lead the team in any particular statistical category, but a series of educated guesses on which players' contributions will go the longest way toward where the Buckeyes finish.

The series continues today with second-year forward Devin Royal .

No. 6 – Devin Royal

Position: Forward

Eligibility: Second year (two remaining)

Height/weight: 6 feet 6 / 220 pounds

Jersey number: 21

Major: Sport industry

Ohio State Buckeyes: A kid at heart: Ohio State's Devin Royal gives back to Pickerington

Devin Royal's background

The highest-rated recruit from Central Ohio since Pickerington North's Jerome Hunter was No. 51 in the 2018 class, Royal arrived at Ohio State as the top prospect in the state, the No. 12 small forward in the country and the overall No. 52 national prospect according to 247Sports.com. ESPN ranked him the No. 9 power forward in the class.

As a junior, Royal averaged 19.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists and was named first-team all-state. In a 55-48 win against Centerville in the state title game, Royal led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and added four rebounds, two assists and a block.

Jul 9, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Devin Royal dunks during a summer workout in the practice gym at the Schottenstein Center.

Royal had publicly trimmed his list to nine schools on July 18: Alabama, Clemson, Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Miami, Ole Miss, Ohio State and Penn State. From there, he cut it further to three finalists: the Crimson Tide, the Spartans and the Buckeyes. He took official visits to Ohio State and Michigan State during the spring.

Although he would fall just short of repeating as a state champion as a senior, Royal was named Ohio Mr. Basketball after averaging 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 64.9% from the floor.

Devin Royal's 2023-24 season recap

Despite his national ranking and track record of success at the prep level, Royal struggled to carve out a consistent role in the early going of his freshman season. Royal didn't score in three of the first five games of the year before posting his first double-digit effort with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in an 88-61 win against Central Michigan on Nov. 29.

Instead of a turning point, the game was an outlier. Royal was a healthy, unused substitute as Ohio State lost an 18-point lead and took an 83-80 loss at Penn State on Dec. 9 in its first Big Ten road game . That came amid a nine-game stretch that saw Royal play two minutes or fewer in five games including three where he didn't get off the bench at all. After seeing no playing time in a 71-65 loss at Indiana on Jan. 6 or a 71-60 home loss to Wisconsin four days later, Royal had seven points in seven minutes as the Buckeyes lost 73-65 at Michigan on Jan. 15.

Through 25 games, Royal had averaged 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds while playing 8.5 minutes in 22 appearances for coach Chris Holtmann. Once Diebler took over the job on an interim basis, Royal's role changed and so did his production. In his final nine games, Royal scored 84 of his 155 points, averaging 9.3 per game while going 29 for 56 (51.7%) from the floor.

"I think it went better from the beginning of the season," Royal said during the summer. "I showed what I can do, but there's still more to show, for sure."

Mar 3, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Devin Royal (21) shoots guarded by Michigan Wolverines forward Tarris Reed Jr. (32) during their NCAA Division I Mens basketball game at Value City Arena.

Royal scored 54.2% of his total points in 25.0% of Ohio State's games, a stretch that came with Diebler in charge. He was on the floor for 183:15 with Diebler as coach and 187:18 with Holtmann as coach.

When Ohio State won at Michigan State on a buzzer-beater from Dale Bonner to snap a program-record 17-game road losing streak, it was Royal who narrowly got the ball inbounds to set up the sequence punctuated by Bonner's shot. He also led Ohio State with 14 points in the win.

He finished the year averaging 4.7 points per game, seventh-most on the team, and 2.4 rebounds while playing 11.2 minutes per game. He shot 50.9% (59 for 116) overall and 15.0% (3 for 20) from 3-point range.

What you need to know about Devin Royal

Royal announced his commitment to Ohio State at a press conference inside room 115 of Pickerington Central while surrounded by family, classmates and teammates during the summer of 2022 . His commitment was just a few days before fellow four-star prospect Scotty Middleton committed to Ohio State. As he chased a championship during his senior season , Royal was the subject of a local film documentary alongside Africentric's Dailyn Swain, who signed to play with Xavier. Royal had to ask Evan Turner, the 2011 national player of the year whose jersey hangs in the rafters at Value City Arena, to wear his No. 21. In a photoshoot while on a visit to Ohio State, Royal wore No. 14. While at Pickerington Central, Royal played alongside current Ohio State defensive back Sonny Styles. Associate head coach Jake Diebler was his primary recruiter.

As a high school player, Royal participated in the Kingdom Summer League. He left Pickerington Central as the program's all-time leading scorer, passing Jae'Sean Tate. Royal was named a Top 30 player at the 2022 Pangos Camp in Las Vegas and was named camp MVP by On3.com

Royal's father, Daryl, was a running back for the University of Cincinnati and rushed for 1,471 yards and added 496 receiving yards from 1994-96.

While in high school, Royal participated in an in-school mentoring program for elementary students. During the summer of 2024, he helped host a back-to-school event and reunited with administrators and students while there.

He played AAU basketball against current teammate Sean Stewart.

Dec 3, 2023; Columbus, OH, USA;Ohio State Buckeyes forward Devin Royal (21) high fives fans after their game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023 at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes beat the Golden Gophers 84-74. — Dec 3, 2023; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Devin Royal (21) high fives fans after their game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023 at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes beat the Golden Gophers 84-74.

Devin Royal's 2024-25 season outlook

After showcasing what he could do in the final games of his freshman season, Royal is ticketed for a breakout season in a frontcourt with opportunity for playing time. It's not hard to envision him continuing to do what made him successful for Diebler last season: be active on the glass, accurate from around the rim and physical on both ends.

The biggest area for growth, and the primary offseason focus for Royal, is developing a consistent 3-point shot.

"Shooting," he said when asked at Ohio State's media day about his biggest offseason emphasis. "Being able to come off of screens, handle the ball and make good plays for the team. Not just try to score every time, but make plays, catch and shoot and all that. If I can do that and maybe we have Sean at the 5 or (Aaron Bradshaw) at the 5, we can switch everything and that will make everything easier for us."

Although he has reportedly shot well during the early portions of the preseason, Royal did not attempt a 3-pointer in Ohio State's exhibition loss at Cincinnati on Oct. 18 . In a team-high 25:01, Royal led the Buckeyes with six rebounds and had 4 points on 2-of-4 shooting. Afterward, Diebler cited Royal as one of Ohio State's bright spots in an otherwise difficult game.

Stewart figures to open the season as the starter at power forward, but that does not mean Royal won't see plenty of playing time. Look for him to step into a more significant role than what he showed down the stretch last year and challenge for starters' minutes all season.

"My confidence is up a lot," he said. "Diebler coming in, letting me play, that's helped me out a lot. My confidence went down a lot in the beginning of the year but Diebler helped me bring that back up. He let me play and didn't put me on a string where if I did one thing wrong I came out.

"Being able to mess up one time and if I'm giving full effort, I'm not going to get taken out for that. Coming back next play and doing it right next time and getting the chance to do it is amazing."