Measurables
SF | 6’6” | 210 lbs
Class Rankings: 121 (247) | 55 (On3) | 102 (Rivals)
Junior Season: 1st Team All-Ohio, OHSAA Division I State Champion (19.6 Points/gm, 8.4 Reb/gm, 60% FG)
AAU Team: All Ohio Red (EYBL)
Offers: Ohio, Miami (OH), Akron, Kent State, Penn State, Dayton, Xavier, Marquette, Ohio State, Butler, Iowa State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Illinois, Florida State
Tape
I recommend watching these two highlight tapes one right after the other, in the order I’ve posted them, so you can note the difference in just a few months from last summer to the high school season that just wrapped up.
Immediately I noticed that the lanky kid in the first video with great ball-handling, touch, and natural scoring ability has continued to develop those skills but has also become stronger, more athletic, and more aggressive. In another year or two, after he’s been in a college weight program, Royal could be a nightmare matchup even in a league as physical as the Big Ten.
These are his highlights from last summer at EYBL:
And these are highlights from his Junior season of high school:
Impossible to not love the tape on Royal, and it’s easy to see why he’s climbed the rankings. More importantly, the stats and the wins seem to back up the tape; he’s not just talented but a competitor who shines in the big moments.
Prediction
Maybe it’s just the pessimistic PSU-hoops fan in me, but I have a bad feeling about Penn State’s chances in this one. Mostly because I think Royal has been a little too good since PSU offered and is only going to continue to rise this summer. But there are a few things going for the Nittany Lions that signal they are still very much in play:
PSU was Royal’s first high-major offer, and hopefully, that counts for something.
The staff was able to go into Ohio last year and sign fellow 1st Team All-Ohio wing Evan Mahaffey, as well as Dayton-native Kebba Njie from La Lumiere. Shrewsberry has midwest roots and already is building a track record of success in Ohio.
Royal was on campus for an official visit to PSU this past week, his 3rd official visit after Iowa State and Marquette.
All signs point to Penn State being in contention here, but this would be a huge deal to land Royal. He would immediately be one of the best recruits in program history if he signed to PSU, and with bigger and better offers coming in seemingly every month, it’s going to be a real fight to land him.
A couple of quotes from recent articles about Devin give a bit of potential insight into where his head is on this decision, one of them concerning and the other one promising:
From an on3 article:
I am not sure if they are going to offer soon or not, I’ve been talking a lot to Wisconsin recently.
And from another on3 article:
I watch a lot of Jayson Tatum, with the way he comes off screens and his footwork. I am trying to get like that.
I wonder if anybody at Penn State knows Tatum??