Royster fulfills promise as Advocate Player of the Year

• Royster averaged 18.6 points%2C 8.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 64 percent from the field.
• The 6-foot-2 Royster led Newark to its first-ever girls regional title and state tournament berth.

NEWARK – J.R. Shumate did his homework, when it came to Kym Royster.

Even when she was in middle school, Newark's girls basketball coach could see the future anchor of his program emerging.

"I talked to her middle school coaches and teachers," he said. "They could see it coming back then. The way she absorbed things, the desire to work hard, being very polite."

Fast forward to 2015, and all of those qualities emerged in a historic season. Ohio's Division I Co-Player of the Year is the Advocate's Girls Basketball Player of the Year. She was also Ohio Capital Conference-Ohio Division and Central District Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-2 Royster led Newark (27-2) to its first-ever girls regional title and state tournament berth, as well as its first league title since 1993-94. She became the Wildcats' all-time scoring leader with 1,600 points, averaging 18.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 64 percent from the field and 70 percent at the line. Her floor shooting ranks ninth best all-time in Ohio.

Shumate said the light came on for Royster after her sophomore season. She played only three games as a freshman because of an injury, but came back with a 42-point game against Lancaster as a sophomore. However, that summer, she spent a lot of time on the bench for her AAU team.

After that, she spent a lot of time in the gym. Alone.

"That's where she started to develop her skills, and she wasn't very skilled," Shumate said. "She's always had the intangibles to be great."

Royster has honed her game against increasingly challenging AAU competition during the off-season. She has been a teammate of fellow All-Ohioans (and Division I signees) Jill Blacksten of Newark Catholic and Paige Cannon from Johnstown.

"It's been different athletes and teams each year; each team has been a different level of competition," Royster said. "I like going up against people who are better than me. It might be some little thing that I pick up on, or maybe something major. I always get better."

Teams always knew they were facing a Division I recruit. Murmurs could be heard from the stands. "Oh, there's that girl going to Indiana."

Royster tried to block it out.

"I try to keep my mind on the business at hand," she said. "But it is always in the back of my mind. I am enjoying it a little bit."

One thing maybe not so enjoyable, however, is the variety of defenses she saw on a nightly basis.

"Man-to-man, junk defenses like box-and-1, double teams, triple teams," Royster said. "It's okay. We work on that in practice all the time. It just gives our guards more shots."

Her overall game has taken off.

"I've really worked on my moves around the basket," Royster said. "Finishing over either shoulder, with either hand. Two-directional moves."

Shumate refers to the spin move she made against Logan in the district finals from the top of the key.

"Even in Division I college ball, you don't see that move very often," he said. "And her skills are still not where she wants to be."

Royster leaves in June for freshman orientation at Indiana. She already has her workout schedule from the Hoosiers. But first, some unfinished business. She'll play in the state's top two all-star games, the North-South and the Ohio-Kentucky.

"I'm very excited," she said. "I get to put on that high school jersey a couple of more times."

dweidig@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8557

Twitter: @noz75

Past Winners

• 2014 Jill Blacksten, Newark Catholic

• 2013 Jill Blacksten, Newark Catholic

• 2012 Maggie Mitchell, Newark

• 2011 Paige Cashin, Newark