Ohio State received some more positive news on Saturday when forward Devin Royal announced on social media that he is returning to the program for his junior season.
Royal’s return is a significant one for the Buckeyes. The Pickerington Central product was by far Ohio State’s most productive frontcourt player last season, ranking first on the team in rebounds with 6.9 per game while also totaling the second-most points on the team (13.7) behind only junior guard Bruce Thornton. He also shot an efficient 52.5 percent from the field while making an improved 27.6 percent of his three-pointers (16 of 58) and 77.2 percent of his free throws (115 of 149).
After a promising freshman season in which he turned it on at the end of the year once Jake Diebler took over as interim coach, Royal was thrust into a starting role just four games into his sophomore campaign due to Aaron Bradshaw’s departure from the team and never gave Bradshaw his spot back, starting the final 27 games and logging the third-most minutes on the team all season at 28.9.
With Royal now officially coming back, he will likely be slotted into the 4 position in next season’s starting frontcourt alongside 7-0 Santa Clara transfer Christoph Tilly, who committed to the Buckeyes on Thursday. He will likely also be joined on the inside by returners Sean Stewart and Ivan Njegovan — although they haven’t officially announced their plans for next season yet — as well as one other big man that they will reportedly add through the transfer portal.
Royal’s return also means that the Buckeyes are bringing back three of their top four scorers from last season’s team, with Thornton (17.7) and freshman guard John Mobley (13.0) both also planning to come back to Ohio State for the 2025-26 campaign. That trio made up of 55.8 percent of the Buckeyes’ scoring from 2024-25.
