Evaluation
August, 2009: Royal is very long and athletic. He is a highly skilled power forward at this stage who is an excellent passer for his size. He possesses good vision and is adept at hitting teammates who cut hard to the basket. His passes lead to baskets. He can shoot the ball with range all the way out to the three point line, but he is at his best when attacking the rim. With his back to the basket, he posts hard and tries to maintain his position and prefers to turn to the middle from the left or right block. He must continue to add strength to his frame to make him even better on the low blocks, but has the skills to be a high level player in his class. He is a solid defender right now who has the potential and the tools to be great on that end. He just has to bring the desire to be great on defense on every single possession.
May, 2009: Royal is a skilled 4 man that can play facing the basket and showed range out to the 3 point arc. He looks more athletic than he shows; he got beat off the dribble by lesser looking athletes. He shows spurts of potential that catch the eye, but needs to develop a more focused intensity. He will be recruited by high-majors based on body type alone and as his body develops he should be able to be more of a force in the paint. He competes on the boards on both ends of the floor and came out of the pack with the ball on numerous occasions. He needs to get stronger and be more willing to fight for position in the low post; he has a tendency to stray out to the perimeter. Inconsistent, but has potential, but when the switch comes on he should have what it takes to contribute at a high level.
June, 2008: Julian is a skilled 4 man with a chance of becoming a 3 down the road. He is skilled and can score out to 17 feet. He needs to improve his aggression and assertiveness. He can sometimes disappear in games despite his enormous talent. He can be soft. He needs to increase his strength to become a better rebounder. Julian is currently ranked a top 25 prospect in the 2011 class nationally.
