2023 Pickerington (Ohio) Central Forward Devin Royal Commits To Ohio State

The Buckeyes now have the second-best recruiting class in the Big Ten and fifth-best haul in the country.

The Ohio State men’s basketball program landed a key in-state commitment on Wednesday afternoon when Pickerington Central four-star forward Devin Royal pledged his services to the Buckeyes over finalist Alabama and Michigan State.

The 6-foot-7 and 210-pound Royal, who is considered the 14th-best small forward and No. 73 prospect overall in the class of 2023, landed an offer from Ohio State during an unofficial visit last October. He’s been to campus multiple times since then, including a camp in June and his official visit in July.

Royal is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 19.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. That includes scoring 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half of the Tigers' 55-48 win over Centerville in the Division I state championship in March.

He becomes the third member of the Buckeyes’ 2023 recruiting class, joining Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade Julienne four-star guard George Washington III – his teammate with the All-Ohio Red AAU team – and St. Marys (Ohio) Memorial four-star center Austin Parks.

Royal's pledge now gives head coach Chris Holtmann the nation’s fifth-best recruiting class, trailing only Duke, Kentucky, Iowa State and Michigan State, which all have three or more commitments this cycle.

The staff is hoping to add at least one more player from a group that includes Wichita (Kan.) Sunrise Christian four-star forward Scotty Middleton, Columbus Africentric four-star forward Dailyn Swain and Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne three-star guard Lawrent Rice.

Swain will announce his top five schools on Friday evening, while Middleton will make his college decision among finalist Kansas, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Texas A&M and UConn on Saturday. That means the Buckeyes could very well have their class wrapped up this weekend.

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