On Sunday afternoon, 2023 Ohio Mr. Basketball Award Winner Devin Royal, who started a combined 59 games over the past two seasons for Ohio State, shared with several media outlets that he intends to transfer from Ohio State when the transfer portal officially opens on April 7.
Nobody is arguing that Ohio State becomes a better team with Royal leaving — if they are, they’re foolish. The production and experience that Royal — a Pickerington-native– brings to the table isn’t easy to replicate or replace.
But nobody should be surprised or stunned by Royal’s decision to move on, especially in the modern college basketball landscape that we’re operating in.
Without speaking to Devin directly, we’ll never know what the driving force was behind his decision, and truthfully, he does not owe us that explanation anyway. Just like you have the freedom to look for a new job or transfer to a new school, he has the right to seek out the best opportunity for himself. But looking at how Ohio State’s roster is shaping up for next season, Royal’s minutes may have been pinched a bit come the fall.
By the halfway point of the season, Royal was starting at small forward and then-freshman Amare Bynum was starting at power forward. Bynum — who announced on Monday that he will be back next season — averaged 10.9 points per game on 54.7% shooting over the final 15 games this past season. Bynum’s involvement in the offense grew as the season progressed, and it became clear that if Ohio State could retain him, he would be a huge part of the 2026-27 team.
The Buckeyes also have five-star small forward Anthony Thompson, the No. 9 player in the 2026 recruiting class according to 247Sports and a McDonald’s All-American, enrolling in May. Thompson is the highest rated recruit from the state of Ohio to suit up for the Buckeyes since Jared Sullinger, so it’s safe to say that he’s going to immediately step in and become a key piece of what Ohio State wants to do next season.
That left Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler with a bit of a dilemma. Unless he’d be willing to play one of those three way out of position, he had three super talented players for two starting spots.
At 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds and with the way he ended his freshman season, Bynum slots in pretty clearly into the starting power forward spot. So really, Diebler would have had to ultimately decide whether Royal — the to-be senior and incumbent starter — or Thompson — the superstar freshman fans have been clamoring for — starts the season coming off the bench.
Royal is a local kid who has started each of the past two seasons and is one of 62 players in program history to score 1,000 points. He stuck with Ohio State through a coaching change, and didn’t leave even after missing the NCAA Tournament his freshman and sophomore seasons. He’s been Ohio State’s leading rebounder for two straight seasons and averaged 13.7 points per game for two consecutive seasons. It would make sense that Royal would want to see his role increase as a senior, not the opposite.
Thompson is Ohio State’s biggest recruiting victory in over a decade — rankings-wise, that is. Diebler and his staff were able to fend off blue bloods like North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas to keep him in-state, despite the Buckeyes having not made the NCAA Tournament for three years at the time of his commitment. He’s a 6-foot-8, left-handed forward whose high release creates a jump shot that’s “virtually unblockable” according to 247Sports’ Adam Finkelstein. He is as close to a sure thing as it gets, and will be an impact player for the Buckeyes the minute he gets on campus.
Either way, Diebler would’ve been making someone unhappy. Someone’s role would’ve been smaller than they would’ve liked. It’s a tough decision that probably led to tough conversations, but it’s one that was born out of the success that Ohio State has had recruiting in-state prospects over the last several years. You’re (hypothetically) stuck deciding whether to start a five-star freshman or a former Ohio Mr. Basketball Award winner who’s already scored 1,000 points in an Ohio State uniform — oh the agony! Countless programs would love to have that problem on their hands.
Whether that conversation was had or not, we’ll never know, but Royal ultimately made the decision to use his final year of eligibility elsewhere. Make no mistake, Ohio State would’ve been a better team with a player of Royal’s caliber coming off the bench. Championship-caliber teams have at least one or two players coming off the bench who are good enough to be starters.
Look at two of this year’s Final Four teams, Arizona and Michigan. The Wildcats have two of their starters from last year — Tobe Awaka and Anthony Dell’Orso — coming off the bench this year for a team that’s two wins away from a national championship. Trey McKenney is a former-five star recruit who has started exactly zero games for the Wolverines this season, but is averaging 9.8 points off the bench — he’d be a starter for nearly every team in the country.
At the end of the day, Royal’s departure is most likely just due to a numbers crunch that was created because Ohio State has too many talented players for the starting spots available. Ohio State would’ve been a stronger team had he stayed, and any argument otherwise is silly. But there’s probably no need to look into that decision any further than that — if you feel like you’re a player that should be starting, and there’s an opportunity to do so elsewhere, players have the right to seek out that opportunity.
Good luck to Devin, wherever the next step of his journey takes him.
