Devin Royal was crowned Ohio Mr. Basketball on Wednesday.
The Pickerington Central senior and 2023 Ohio State men's basketball signee earned 90 votes from the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association to beat out last year's winner, Centerville guard Gabe Cupps, for the honor.
Among the other finalists were Cuyahoga Falls Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Darryn Peterson, Columbus Africentric's Dailyn Swain, Toledo Emmanuel Christian's Jerry Easter II, Caldwell's Bede Lori and Brecksville-Broadview Heights' Luke Skaljac.
Royal committed to Ohio State on Aug. 3, 2022, and signed with the program this past November. The 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward led Pickerington Central to a state championship last year and has the Tigers back in the semifinal round of the state tournament this season.
Devin Royal dropped 29 in a dominant performance to lead Pickerington Central back to the final four
— Jake Spegal (@JakeSpegal270) March 11, 2023
Back to back regional titles for the Tigers! @DevinRoyal7 @PCTigersHoops pic.twitter.com/j0mhuPOutQ
Royal, the top-rated prospect in Ohio and 49th overall recruit in the 247Sports composite rankings, recently broke Jae'Sean Tate's all-time scoring record at Pickerington Central, and is now the first Pick Central product to win Ohio Mr. Basketball.
Royal is just the 12th Buckeye to win the Ohio Mr. Basketball honor and the first since Malaki Branham in 2021. He joins a list of award winners who went on to play for the Buckeyes that includes Jimmy Jackson, Greg Simpson, Damon Stringer, Tony Stockman, Jamar Butler, William Buford, Jon Diebler, Jared Sullinger, Marc Loving, Kaleb Wesson and Malaki Branham.
Congratulations @DevinRoyal7 on being named 2023 Ohio Mr. Basketball!
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 15, 2023
Devin becomes the 12th Ohio State Buckeye to win the award, the last being Malaki Branham in 2021.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/nH4g6iiBTO
