Pickerington Central product Devin Royal returning to Ohio State for his sophomore season
Devin Royal will return to Ohio State for his sophomore season.
A Pickerington Central product, Royal averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds while appearing in 33 games as a freshman but saw his production increase as the season progressed. Through 27 games, Royal had averaged 3.3 points per game and was a healthy, unused substitute in three games. 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. He was perfect on six field-goal attempts, scoring 14 points as the Buckeyes won at Michigan State on Feb. 25 to snap a program-record 17-game road losing streak.
Royal scored 54.2% of his total points in 25.0% of Ohio State’s games, a stretch that came with Jake Diebler in charge. In Diebler’s 11 games as first interim and then head coach, Royal played nearly as much as he did in his first 22 games of the season with Chris Holtmann as coach. Royal averaged 16.6 minutes per appearance in Ohio State’s final 11 games after averaging 8.5 through the team’s first 25 games.
— Devin Royal (@DevinRoyal7) April 3, 2024
He was on the floor for 183:15 with Diebler as coach and 187:18 with Holtmann as coach.
"He did a lot, man," Royal told The Dispatch after a Big Ten Tournament loss to Illinois when asked about Diebler. "That’s one of the main reasons I came here, for Dieb. That’s my guy. To be able to have him as a coach to carry us through everything was great. He did a great job."
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“Devin’s been really good down the stretch,” Diebler said March 22, one day before the Buckeyes hosted Virginia Tech in a second-round NIT game. “Devin works hard. He’s got some great feel and instincts. The game has started to slow down for him a little bit more. He’s getting more comfortable playing at that faster pace. You’re starting to see the versatility that I think is only going to improve significantly with another good offseason. Devin’s got a really bright future.”
A four-star prospect out of high school, Royal signed with the Buckeyes after also including Michigan State and Alabama on his list of finalists. He was named Ohio Mr. Basketball as a senior and was rated the top prospect from Ohio in the 2023 class, the No. 12 power forward in the nation and the overall No. 52 prospect according to 247Sports.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Devin Royal returning to Ohio State for his sophomore season
