Connor Lemons
Guest
Player To Watch: Devin Royal primed for sophomore breakout
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Royal averaged 8.7 points per game over the final nine games of the 2023-2024 season.
When Dale Bonner’s three-point prayer settled into the bottom the net in East Lansing with less than one second remaining on Feb. 25, Ohio State picked up its first win at Breslin since the 2011-2012 season. While Bonner’s shot was the individual play that delivered the win, the Buckeyes would not have been in a position to win the game that day without the contributions of then-freshman Devin Royal.
In reality, Bonner only got the ball because Royal found a way to inbound the ball between three Michigan State defenders six seconds earlier. After Tyson Walker split a pair of free throws to tie the game with six seconds left, then-interim head coach Jake Diebler trusted the freshman to inbound the basketball, knowing that a turnover would give the Spartans the ball back under their own basket.
Royal pump faked to Bruce Thornton’s right, forcing Michigan State’s Tre Holloman to take a step to his left. Thornton and Royal were on the same wavelength, as the freshman immediately dotted the pass to the opposite side of Thornton, with Holloman leaning the wrong way. The pass snuck in between Holloman and two other Spartan defenders. Thornton took three dribbles up the sideline, passed ahead to Bonner, and the rest is history.
Below is a screenshot of the play as Royal is passing to Thornton, with both Buckeyes circled in yellow. Royal fits the pass into the smallest of windows between three defenders, right into Thornton’s hands after the pump fake created space.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25475362/Screenshot_2024_06_02_at_10.55.23_PM.png)
Aside from the crucial inbounds pass at the end, Royal also led the Buckeyes in scoring for the first time in his career with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 18 minutes. He also had two steals. 10 of those 14 points came in the second half, as Ohio State stormed back from a 12-point second-half deficit on the road.
It was noteworthy that Royal’s best performance of the season came against the Spartans, as Tom Izzo and Michigan State appeared to be the biggest competitor to land Royal out of Pickerington Central High School two years ago. Instead, Royal opted to play locally for the Buckeyes, and was a massive thorn in Izzo’s side the very first time he faced the Spartans.
While the legendary Michigan State head coach wasn’t going to sit around and heap praise on an opposing player after a loss, he did mention Royal after the game during the post-game press conference.
“I mean, you look at their stats, those aren’t very good numbers other than Royal,” he said. “They shoot 37% (overall) and 17% (from three) and we lost the game.”
Royal’s performance against the Spartans shows the promise the rising sophomore has. On a day where second-leading scorer and starting forward Jamison Battle was ruled out with an injury, Royal still only played 18 minutes due to foul trouble. He picked up his second foul 10:19 into the game, which limited his ability to be aggressive and impact the game for the rest of the first half. Coincidentally, the Buckeyes were outscored 19-10 for the rest of the first half after Royal picked up that second foul.
With the foul concerns temporarily cast aside, Royal played much more freely in the second half, scoring 10 points and bullying the Spartans around the basket. Royal never misses a turnaround jumper (or so it seems), and he just kept beating Michigan State with the same move over and over in the second half. His three-point shot hasn’t quite developed yet, but Royal was money on most everything in the 6-to-10 foot range his freshman season.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25475368/2031357555.jpg "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: FEB 25 Ohio State at Michigan State")
Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
So, what happens in this game if Royal doesn’t get into early foul trouble? He’s certainly not held to 18 minutes, and his career-high of 14 points probably winds up being something much higher. Hell, Dale Bonner’s game-winner might not have even been necessary to grab the win in East Lansing.
That’s a big reason why so many people are bullish on Royal and his prospects for a big sophomore season. Royal played 10 or more minutes 19 times this past season, and in 12 of those games he picked up at least three fouls. He only fouled out once, but as we see all the time in college basketball, early foul trouble can completely change the script for not just the individual player, but his team too if he’s pulled out of the game after early fouls. If Royal can put a few of those fouls in his pocket and stay on the floor for longer stretches, he’s shown that he can be an extremely efficient scorer.
Additionally, Royal saw his minutes and opportunities expand almost instantaneously when Chris Holtmann was fired and Diebler took over. Over the first 22 games of the season, Royal averaged just over eight minutes per game and scored 3.2 points per game. He played 10+ minutes in eight of those 22 games.
Holtmann was fired after Ohio State’s loss to Wisconsin — the Buckeyes’ 22nd game of the year. Over the final 11 games under Diebler, Royal’s playing time basically doubled, as he averaged 16:31 per game until the end of the season. He averaged 7.6 points per game with Diebler as head coach, and played at least 12 minutes in every single game. His per-40 averages under Diebler? 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
While it’s true that Royal improved as the season went on, and probably wasn’t as reliable of an option against Texas A&M in November as he was against Michigan State three months later, it’s also true that Diebler trusted Royal to make the right play more than Holtmann did.
We’ll never know for sure, but it’s hard to believe that Holtmann would’ve put Royal on the on the baseline to inbound the ball against Michigan State. Diebler did. Holtmann did not give Royal the opportunities to prove himself during the first two-thirds of the season. Once Diebler took over, Royal immediately became an integral part of the rotation.
Part of the allure of hiring Diebler — a first-time head coach — was the hope that he could keep the team’s young core together. That didn’t exactly happen, but as his primary recruiter, Diebler was able to keep Devin Royal in Columbus. If the now-sophomore Royal can limit the mental mistakes that lead to unnecessary fouls, he should take a major leap forward this upcoming season as a crucial piece of Jake Diebler’s first Ohio State team.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Royal averaged 8.7 points per game over the final nine games of the 2023-2024 season.
When Dale Bonner’s three-point prayer settled into the bottom the net in East Lansing with less than one second remaining on Feb. 25, Ohio State picked up its first win at Breslin since the 2011-2012 season. While Bonner’s shot was the individual play that delivered the win, the Buckeyes would not have been in a position to win the game that day without the contributions of then-freshman Devin Royal.
In reality, Bonner only got the ball because Royal found a way to inbound the ball between three Michigan State defenders six seconds earlier. After Tyson Walker split a pair of free throws to tie the game with six seconds left, then-interim head coach Jake Diebler trusted the freshman to inbound the basketball, knowing that a turnover would give the Spartans the ball back under their own basket.
Royal pump faked to Bruce Thornton’s right, forcing Michigan State’s Tre Holloman to take a step to his left. Thornton and Royal were on the same wavelength, as the freshman immediately dotted the pass to the opposite side of Thornton, with Holloman leaning the wrong way. The pass snuck in between Holloman and two other Spartan defenders. Thornton took three dribbles up the sideline, passed ahead to Bonner, and the rest is history.
Below is a screenshot of the play as Royal is passing to Thornton, with both Buckeyes circled in yellow. Royal fits the pass into the smallest of windows between three defenders, right into Thornton’s hands after the pump fake created space.
Aside from the crucial inbounds pass at the end, Royal also led the Buckeyes in scoring for the first time in his career with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 18 minutes. He also had two steals. 10 of those 14 points came in the second half, as Ohio State stormed back from a 12-point second-half deficit on the road.
It was noteworthy that Royal’s best performance of the season came against the Spartans, as Tom Izzo and Michigan State appeared to be the biggest competitor to land Royal out of Pickerington Central High School two years ago. Instead, Royal opted to play locally for the Buckeyes, and was a massive thorn in Izzo’s side the very first time he faced the Spartans.
While the legendary Michigan State head coach wasn’t going to sit around and heap praise on an opposing player after a loss, he did mention Royal after the game during the post-game press conference.
“I mean, you look at their stats, those aren’t very good numbers other than Royal,” he said. “They shoot 37% (overall) and 17% (from three) and we lost the game.”
Royal’s performance against the Spartans shows the promise the rising sophomore has. On a day where second-leading scorer and starting forward Jamison Battle was ruled out with an injury, Royal still only played 18 minutes due to foul trouble. He picked up his second foul 10:19 into the game, which limited his ability to be aggressive and impact the game for the rest of the first half. Coincidentally, the Buckeyes were outscored 19-10 for the rest of the first half after Royal picked up that second foul.
With the foul concerns temporarily cast aside, Royal played much more freely in the second half, scoring 10 points and bullying the Spartans around the basket. Royal never misses a turnaround jumper (or so it seems), and he just kept beating Michigan State with the same move over and over in the second half. His three-point shot hasn’t quite developed yet, but Royal was money on most everything in the 6-to-10 foot range his freshman season.
So, what happens in this game if Royal doesn’t get into early foul trouble? He’s certainly not held to 18 minutes, and his career-high of 14 points probably winds up being something much higher. Hell, Dale Bonner’s game-winner might not have even been necessary to grab the win in East Lansing.
That’s a big reason why so many people are bullish on Royal and his prospects for a big sophomore season. Royal played 10 or more minutes 19 times this past season, and in 12 of those games he picked up at least three fouls. He only fouled out once, but as we see all the time in college basketball, early foul trouble can completely change the script for not just the individual player, but his team too if he’s pulled out of the game after early fouls. If Royal can put a few of those fouls in his pocket and stay on the floor for longer stretches, he’s shown that he can be an extremely efficient scorer.
Additionally, Royal saw his minutes and opportunities expand almost instantaneously when Chris Holtmann was fired and Diebler took over. Over the first 22 games of the season, Royal averaged just over eight minutes per game and scored 3.2 points per game. He played 10+ minutes in eight of those 22 games.
Holtmann was fired after Ohio State’s loss to Wisconsin — the Buckeyes’ 22nd game of the year. Over the final 11 games under Diebler, Royal’s playing time basically doubled, as he averaged 16:31 per game until the end of the season. He averaged 7.6 points per game with Diebler as head coach, and played at least 12 minutes in every single game. His per-40 averages under Diebler? 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
While it’s true that Royal improved as the season went on, and probably wasn’t as reliable of an option against Texas A&M in November as he was against Michigan State three months later, it’s also true that Diebler trusted Royal to make the right play more than Holtmann did.
We’ll never know for sure, but it’s hard to believe that Holtmann would’ve put Royal on the on the baseline to inbound the ball against Michigan State. Diebler did. Holtmann did not give Royal the opportunities to prove himself during the first two-thirds of the season. Once Diebler took over, Royal immediately became an integral part of the rotation.
Part of the allure of hiring Diebler — a first-time head coach — was the hope that he could keep the team’s young core together. That didn’t exactly happen, but as his primary recruiter, Diebler was able to keep Devin Royal in Columbus. If the now-sophomore Royal can limit the mental mistakes that lead to unnecessary fouls, he should take a major leap forward this upcoming season as a crucial piece of Jake Diebler’s first Ohio State team.
Continue reading...