Ohio
After breakout at Michigan State last year, Devin Royal ready to lead Ohio State in rematch
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler previews Michigan State, Big Ten play
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler previews Michigan State, Big Ten play in this Jan. 2, 2025 press conference.
Devin Royal’s internal clock told him he was out of time.
The green-and-white-clad crowd of 14,797 was screaming as the Ohio State freshman held the ball, and likely the game, in his hands. A Tyson Walker free throw had just pulled Michigan State even against upset-minded Ohio State with 6.4 seconds remaining as Royal tried to get the Buckeyes set up for a final shot. Frantically, the freshman looked for his primary outlet to inbound the ball only to find the Spartans had taken it away.
“I’m counting in my head,” Royal said Thursday, thinking back on the moment. “I’m at five (seconds) myself, so I’m trying to hurry up and get it in.”
No whistle blew, and Royal managed to thread a pass into Bruce Thornton amid three Michigan State defenders. What happened next set off a celebration not seen in 12 years: Thornton pushed the ball up the court, found Dale Bonner along the 3-point line and fed his teammate for a game-winning shot that swished through the net with 0.2 seconds remaining.
The shot will live on in Ohio State lore as the first road winner against the Spartans since William Buford’s jumper lifted them to a share of the 2012 Big Ten title in the final game of the regular season. It also snapped a 17-game road losing streak for the Buckeyes. But while Bonner’s name gets the headline for the play, that shot doesn’t go in – and Ohio State isn’t in position to shock the Spartans – without the first true standout game of Royal’s career.
On that Sunday afternoon, Royal finished with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and added two steals and two rebounds in the most playing time of his freshman season to that point: 17:54. It was a glimpse of why the Pickerington Central product had been such a coveted recruit, one who picked the Buckeyes despite a hard push from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
Friday night, those two teams meet for the first time since Bonner’s shot when the Spartans come to Value City Arena in the lone matchup between Ohio State and Michigan State this year. This time, Royal features prominently atop the scouting report amid a breakout sophomore season that was hinted at last season.
He leads the Buckeyes in rebounding (7.5 per game) and is second in scoring (14.8) after averaging 2.4 and 4.7 last season, respectively. It’s the kind of growth players sometimes show from freshman to sophomore seasons, but coach Jake Diebler said that’s not exactly how Royal’s summer went.
“At times you can just assume (that growth) is going to happen, but there’s a work, there’s a mentality, there’s a maturity required to make that jump,” Diebler said. “He was a little inconsistent with that at times in the summer. We talked about it. He owned that, and then he took off because I think he was honest with himself.”
When the Buckeyes reported for fall camp, Diebler said Royal had flipped the page and quickly began to assert himself as a high-level player.
“You’re seeing a great deal of benefit from the hard work and mentality he had really starting in August,” the coach said. “He’s a great story about what I want our program to be about. I want guys to come in and grow and get better and he’s certainly done that.”
When Ohio State returned from holiday break, Royal was hardly able to practice due to an illness that had him questionable for the Dec. 29 home game against Indiana State. He gutted out 19:44, finishing with 13 points and four rebounds in the 103-83 win against the Sycamores.
In two Big Ten games this season, Royal leads Ohio State in scoring average (20.0) and rebounding average (7.5). For the Buckeyes to knock off No. 18 Michigan State, Royal will have to play a big part.
Just like he did last year.
“It taught me a lot,” Royal said of that experience. “It’s a very physical game. Tom Izzo definitely put in them (the mentality) to be physical a lot. I know coming into this game I have to put it into some of the younger guys who might not know about it.”
ajardy@dispatch.com
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
STRYKER, Ohio (WKRC) – An Ohio woman allegedly broke into her ex-husband’s home while he was sleeping and threatened to kill him before opening fire.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, 31-year-old Amanda Heller broke into a man’s home on April 26. The man was identified as Heller’s ex-husband by local outlet WTOL.
After the victim woke up, Heller allegedly threatened to kill him before taking out a handgun and firing twice.
No injuries were reported in connection to the shooting, Law&Crime reported. Nobody else was in the home at the time of the incident, authorities reported.
Heller was arrested and charged with felonious assault, attempted aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, domestic violence, and improperly discharging a weapon at or into a habitation or school.
AI influencers are all over your feed
AI influencers may not change minds — but they can amplify division and inflame political tensions online.
We can’t believe our eyes
Re “AI political ads bring fears over ’26 election,” May 27: I fully support House Bill 185. It probably doesn’t go far enough. This is a prime example of “don’t believe everything you see on the Internet.”
I am being inundated with emails and text messages from organizations and people I do not know. I block them as spam, but it doesn’t seem to do any good. About the only way to combat this is to attend a live debate between candidates, but most people do not have the time to do that.
I use AI every day with caution. We need better ways of identifying AI-created falsehoods.
Edwin Heller, Dublin
Tell voters what’s real
Re “AI political ads bring fears over ’26 election,” May 27: I don’t think AI should be used in political ads, but there is no way to stop it.What we can and should do is require campaigns to certify that their ad did or did not use AI to generate or edit content that:
- Makes a real person appear to say or do something they didn’t say or do.
- Alters footage of a real event or place.
- Generates a realistic-looking scene that didn’t actually occur.
We grade movie content. Why not political advertising? The public needs a way to help distinguish truth from fiction.
Richard Wires, Columbus
Ban political ads, already
Re “AI political ads bring fears over ’26 election,” May 27: Political ads should be banned. Those using – AI-generated or not. I don’t trust anything I read online anymore, and especially political ads.
People read/see those ads, don’t research the information in them, and vote according to, oftentimes, the misinformation in those ads. The huge amounts of money being spent on ads is sinful!
Lyn Miller, Smithville
Food cuts hurt hungry families
While President Donald Trump and Republicans continually find new ways to enrich their billionaire funders and friends, they’ve made the largest cuts to SNAP in history, making it more difficult for over 40 million Americans, including 16 million children and 8 million seniors, to access healthy foods and forcing them to rely on the cheapest foods (usually the most ultra-processed}.
They’re especially hurting American children and setting them up for worse health outcomes than previous generations by making it harder for them to access healthy foods.
They’ve cut funding to support farm-to-school programs and food banks, passed the largest cut to food assistance in history, and are pushing to end the decades-old practice of putting fluoride in water to reduce tooth decay. Most appalling, they’ve even allowed food companies to use cancer-causing chemicals in snack foods targeted to children.
Meanwhile, they’ve allowed food companies to take advantage of inflation to raise prices to increase their profits. A Kroger executive suggested that inflation is good for business when he testified the chain has hiked the milk and eggs prices beyond the costs from inflation.
This is one more reason that we must do all we can to get Republicans out of office.
Russ Smith, Strongsville
TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The FBI was part of a search of multiple properties related to Stansley Mining on Friday, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed.
A Public Affairs Officer for the FBI Cleveland Division confirmed to the 13 Action News I-TEAM that authorities searched a business in the area of Siliva Road in Sylvania, as well as property in Ottawa County by State Route 590 in Benton Township.
Officials with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation told the 13 Action News I-TEAM that they executed a search warrant at the property in Benton Township. Ohio BCI’s environmental division and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency were involved in the search.
It’s unclear exactly what officials were looking for. The FBI spokesperson said there wasn’t additional information to share at this point, but added there is no threat to the public.
Stansley Mining is the entity that owns Rocky Ridge Development, a company at the center of extensive 13 Action News coverage after its South Toledo mining operation was improperly working in a residentially-zoned area.
Latest Local News | First Alert Weather | Crime | National | 13abc Originals
Copyright 2026 WTVG. All rights reserved.
-
Hawaii2 minutes agoMind-bending mural brings greenery into the city
-
Idaho7 minutes agoIdaho Chukar Foundation hosts rattlesnake, skunk, and porcupine avoidance training
-
Illinois14 minutes agoDriver injured after crashing through two garages, hitting two houses in Niles: police
-
Indiana16 minutes agoMooresville police officer involved in ‘serious crash,’ investigation underway
-
Iowa22 minutes agoU.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek spends Saturday campaigning in eastern Iowa
-
Kansas29 minutes agoSheriff: 2 Kansas suspects arrested, stolen items recovered
-
Kentucky32 minutes agoTroopers: Woman killed, 2 juveniles seriously injured in Pendleton County crash
-
Louisiana37 minutes agoLouisiana Gov. signs Caleb Wilson Hazing Prevention Act
