After being awarded Mr. Basketball prior to the game, Royal was on a mission to lead his team back to the state title game. Early on it was Royal being active on lobs, using his excellent hands to finish passes around the rim and give his team an energy boost. In both games against Centerville the past few years, Royal has stepped up with a few timely jumpers to keep his team ahead. Pickerington Central also ran some nice actions to get him open, including a dribble handoff that led to an and-1 finish to give the Tigers the lead back with just a few minutes to play. Royal was simply too big, too strong and too skilled for Centerville to handle in the paint and finished with 23 points on 9/14 shooting and 5/7 from the free throw line, a dominant performance by the top ranked senior in the state.

Royal showed that he could go play at the next level next week. He immediately jumps out as the biggest and most athletic player on the court when he steps on it. It was the difference in the game against Pick North. He did a great job of being a rim protector. Sent so many shots flying the other way. I like how much of a willing passer Royal was. He could try to force a lot and doesn’t. He reads the help defense and finds the open guy. After getting the rebound he is a really good outlet passer. He was great attacking the rim. He is so strong and just goes through contact like it’s not there. He had multiple dunks in traffic including a thunderous alley-oop dunk on a defender’s head.

Royal was tremendous early in the battle of defending state champs from Ohio and Indiana. Starting the game on a mission, Royal was using his strength and physicality to grab offensive rebounds. Royal also knocked down a couple mid-range jumpers and showed off his ability to attack off the bounce. The future Ohio State Buckeye continued his dominant play over the past year and could be an impact guy right away at the next level.

Royal was the name many people wanted to see Saturday night as the Pick Central Tigers had a rematch with Centerville to end the event. Royal looks like a true Big Ten prospect with his size and skill. Truly dangerous at 6’6 as he can handle the ball and put the ball on the floor like a guard, but has the body of a PF and knows exactly how to use it. The versatility in his scoring options meant Royal wasn’t forced to only put the ball on the ground, but could also knock down midrange shots in both catch-and-shoot or off the dribble. His play forces defenses to collapse more and overcompensate for his size, but Royal has some true offensive threats all around him, making Pick Central a very dangerous team with their depth and scoring.

Royal is ranked the best player in the 2023 class in Ohio and on Friday night he had the gym buzzing. The first thing you notice about royal is how big he is. The 6’6 wing is a very big body. He has a thick lower half and a huge frame up top. He simply bullies people. He also has a great skill set. Makes great decisions with the ball. Pretty jumper. He has great athleticism and uses his size very well when getting rebounds and catching alley-pop dunks.

Royal would be my pick for the award, he came close to winning it as a Junior after leading Pickerington Central to a state championship. One of the most dominant high school players Ohio has seen in the past couple years, Royal is set to put up crazy numbers as a senior in a run it back type season.