Brett Ludwiczak
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Bold Predictions: Devin Royal will be named First Team All-Big Ten this year
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
The Pickerington forward showed tremendous improvement from his freshman to sophomore year. Now it’s time for Royal to make a huge leap in his junior season at Ohio State.
This week is all about making predictions that may or may not be reasonable, in fact, some might say they are bold. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Bold Predictions” articles here.
To say Ohio State men’s basketball has been tough to watch recently is an understatement. The Buckeyes haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2022, and they haven’t made the second weekend of the tournament since 2013, when they lost in the Elite Eight to Wichita State. Over the last two seasons, Ohio State has played .500 basketball, posting a 30-30 record during that time.
Despite their recent struggles, there are reasons to be excited about the upcoming Buckeye basketball season. While Bruce Thornton will receive a lot of the headlines as the season opener in the fall inches closer, I’ll be focused on another player who I think will have a strong season.
Devin Royal made a noticeable improvement from his freshman to sophomore seasons, and I think he is going to make another leap in his junior season.
So just how good do I think Royal is going to be this year? I don’t think it’s crazy to expect Royal to earn First Team All-Big Ten honors when the all-conference teams are announced ahead of the Big Ten Tournament in March.
After averaging 11.2 minutes per game, 4.7 points per game, and 2.4 rebounds per game as a freshman, last year Royal saw a significant uptick in playing time, averaging nearly 29 minutes per game. With his expanded role, Royal finished his sophomore season with 13.7 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Royal started off his season like a house of fire as a sophomore, reaching double figures in scoring in 10 of the first 13 games, which included scoring a career-high 31 points against Valparaiso. During that span, Royal also pulled down at least 10 rebounds in three of those games.
While Royal would only have one other game the rest of the season where he reached double figures in rebounds, he wasn’t non-existent on the glass in those contests, recording at least four rebounds in each of the final 18 games.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26052001/2196471398.jpg "Iowa v Ohio State")
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
What I’m banking on is Royal continuing to improve on the offensive end and his scoring this coming season will be closer to 20 points per game. Last season saw Royal’s role increase on the floor, which resulted in increased scoring. Heading into his third season with the program, the Pickerington product will show more consistency as the season moves along.
Last year during conference play, there was a stretch where Royal failed to score more than eight points in five of six games. The only game during that span where he did reach double figures came against Michigan when he scored 26 points. At times it was truly boom or bust for Royal.
Heading into last season there was optimism about the Buckeyes because of the size they brought in from the transfer portal with Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart. Unfortunately both Bradshaw and Stewart were largely ineffective, meaning Royal was shouldering more of the load than expected.
This season Ohio State is going in a different direction with their bigs, as Bradshaw and Stewart have transferred out of the program, while Santa Clara’s Christoph Tilly is joining the program.
With Tilly in the frontcourt with Royal, the transfer should be able to take some of the attention away from the third-year Buckeye forward. Also, Royal will be a favorite target of Bruce Thornton, who has shown he can make plays by driving the lane and dishing the rock to an open teammate.
Since Thornton and Royal will be entering their third year together, there will be a lot of comfort between the two, and they have all the makings of not only being one of the best guard/forward combos in the Big Ten, they could also hold their own against a lot of the top duos in the country.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26052003/1945186983.jpg "Ohio State v Michigan")
Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images
I’m not saying Ohio State’s men’s basketball team is going to match how the football team performed in the face of adversity following their loss to Michigan which kicked off their magical title run, but I do think Thornton and Royal are tired of hearing the negativity surrounding the program. As upperclassmen, expect them to set the tone this season as they go to bat for their head coach and prove that Jake Diebler is the right guy for the job.
It’s not going to be easy for Royal to make the Big Ten’s first team since not only the likes of Trey Kaufman-Renn, Brice Williams, and Nick Martinelli returning this season, Yaxel Lendeborg of UAB transferred to Michigan to bolster the depth in the front court in the Big Ten this season.
I believe that iron sharpens iron, so Royal is not only going to be better because of his battles with those who have already made a name for themselves in the conference already, but he’ll also be ready for the new blood that will be entering the Big Ten.
Who knows, maybe I’m getting a little too bold by overestimating just how much of a leap Royal is going to make this year. Then again, there hasn’t been a ton of excitement around the men’s basketball program recently so I figure I might as well set the bar high in what I’m expecting out of Royal this year since there isn’t a lot to lose.
No matter what happens this year with Royal and the basketball team, we can all agree on one thing... Go Bucks!
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images
The Pickerington forward showed tremendous improvement from his freshman to sophomore year. Now it’s time for Royal to make a huge leap in his junior season at Ohio State.
This week is all about making predictions that may or may not be reasonable, in fact, some might say they are bold. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”Bold Predictions” articles here.
To say Ohio State men’s basketball has been tough to watch recently is an understatement. The Buckeyes haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2022, and they haven’t made the second weekend of the tournament since 2013, when they lost in the Elite Eight to Wichita State. Over the last two seasons, Ohio State has played .500 basketball, posting a 30-30 record during that time.
Despite their recent struggles, there are reasons to be excited about the upcoming Buckeye basketball season. While Bruce Thornton will receive a lot of the headlines as the season opener in the fall inches closer, I’ll be focused on another player who I think will have a strong season.
Devin Royal made a noticeable improvement from his freshman to sophomore seasons, and I think he is going to make another leap in his junior season.
So just how good do I think Royal is going to be this year? I don’t think it’s crazy to expect Royal to earn First Team All-Big Ten honors when the all-conference teams are announced ahead of the Big Ten Tournament in March.
After averaging 11.2 minutes per game, 4.7 points per game, and 2.4 rebounds per game as a freshman, last year Royal saw a significant uptick in playing time, averaging nearly 29 minutes per game. With his expanded role, Royal finished his sophomore season with 13.7 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Royal started off his season like a house of fire as a sophomore, reaching double figures in scoring in 10 of the first 13 games, which included scoring a career-high 31 points against Valparaiso. During that span, Royal also pulled down at least 10 rebounds in three of those games.
While Royal would only have one other game the rest of the season where he reached double figures in rebounds, he wasn’t non-existent on the glass in those contests, recording at least four rebounds in each of the final 18 games.
What I’m banking on is Royal continuing to improve on the offensive end and his scoring this coming season will be closer to 20 points per game. Last season saw Royal’s role increase on the floor, which resulted in increased scoring. Heading into his third season with the program, the Pickerington product will show more consistency as the season moves along.
Last year during conference play, there was a stretch where Royal failed to score more than eight points in five of six games. The only game during that span where he did reach double figures came against Michigan when he scored 26 points. At times it was truly boom or bust for Royal.
Heading into last season there was optimism about the Buckeyes because of the size they brought in from the transfer portal with Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart. Unfortunately both Bradshaw and Stewart were largely ineffective, meaning Royal was shouldering more of the load than expected.
This season Ohio State is going in a different direction with their bigs, as Bradshaw and Stewart have transferred out of the program, while Santa Clara’s Christoph Tilly is joining the program.
With Tilly in the frontcourt with Royal, the transfer should be able to take some of the attention away from the third-year Buckeye forward. Also, Royal will be a favorite target of Bruce Thornton, who has shown he can make plays by driving the lane and dishing the rock to an open teammate.
Since Thornton and Royal will be entering their third year together, there will be a lot of comfort between the two, and they have all the makings of not only being one of the best guard/forward combos in the Big Ten, they could also hold their own against a lot of the top duos in the country.
I’m not saying Ohio State’s men’s basketball team is going to match how the football team performed in the face of adversity following their loss to Michigan which kicked off their magical title run, but I do think Thornton and Royal are tired of hearing the negativity surrounding the program. As upperclassmen, expect them to set the tone this season as they go to bat for their head coach and prove that Jake Diebler is the right guy for the job.
It’s not going to be easy for Royal to make the Big Ten’s first team since not only the likes of Trey Kaufman-Renn, Brice Williams, and Nick Martinelli returning this season, Yaxel Lendeborg of UAB transferred to Michigan to bolster the depth in the front court in the Big Ten this season.
I believe that iron sharpens iron, so Royal is not only going to be better because of his battles with those who have already made a name for themselves in the conference already, but he’ll also be ready for the new blood that will be entering the Big Ten.
Who knows, maybe I’m getting a little too bold by overestimating just how much of a leap Royal is going to make this year. Then again, there hasn’t been a ton of excitement around the men’s basketball program recently so I figure I might as well set the bar high in what I’m expecting out of Royal this year since there isn’t a lot to lose.
No matter what happens this year with Royal and the basketball team, we can all agree on one thing... Go Bucks!
Continue reading...