Gastrointestinal distress welcomed Julian Royal to college basketball. Subsequent interactions have transpired with increasing comfort for Georgia Tech’s freshman forward.
“You see him growing up and improving every day,” Tech coach Brian Gregory said.
Royal was a bit overweight and lacked fitness when he arrived on campus over the summer. The Milton High grad has developed into a useful substitute who will get minutes Thursday night when the Yellow Jackets play No. 15 Virginia at Philips Arena in their fourth ACC game. Gregory acknowledges that he probably underestimated Royal’s potential.
“I think before it’s all said and done, if he continues to make the progress that he’s made over the last four months, he’s got a chance to be a great player, to be a really good player in this league,” Gregory said. “There’s no question about it.”
Royal’s conditioning and strength will play a significant hand in his ascension. If he develops into the player that Gregory envisions, it will be as much a victory for strength-and-conditioning coach Mike Bewley as the head coach.
Said Bewley, “I expect there to be some major changes physically.”
Royal enrolled at Tech over the summer in part to take part in the team’s summer workouts. Admittedly not in good shape, he threw up at the end of one of his first sessions, a testing day.
“We had to do our agility, coordination, footwork and all that stuff,” Royal said. “I was tired just doing that, and then at the end, [Bewley is] like, OK, now we’ve got our running.”
Royal measured at 17 percent body fat when he arrived, Bewley said, and had “flexibility issues” in his hips. Through conditioning, weightlifting and a better diet, Royal has lowered it to 12 percent while maintaining the weight on his 6-foot-7 frame at around 225 pounds. Bewley’s goal is to get Royal under 10 percent.
Bewley’s work with Royal is only beginning. In Tech’s opener against Florida A&M, Royal said that “just running down the floor, everything just started hurting just from the pace of it.”
But Royal has adjusted to the extent that his growing role has slowed Bewley’s plans to work with him this season in order to save his legs for the court. Royal’s willingness to bang in the paint and meet Gregory’s demands for selfless play, as well as his improved fitness, has bought him more court time as Kammeon Holsey’s backup at power forward.
“He’s gotten a lot stronger,” Holsey said. “He’s just got to continue to get used to the physical play and he’ll be all right.”
The most significant turning point took place in Tech’s win over Georgia on Dec. 7, its first win in Athens after 13 consecutive losses. In the game, Royal hustled into the backcourt and dove to the floor for a loose ball to thwart a Bulldogs fast break. In the victorious locker room, Gregory asked his players when he knew the Jackets were going to win.
“No. 1 right here,” Gregory answered, pointing at Royal and his gold No. 1 Tech jersey, prompting clapping and shouts from his teammates.
Through that game, Royal had averaged 8.0 minutes per game. Since then, he has logged an average of 17.4 minutes.
He had his best performance against Alabama A&M on Dec. 19, scoring 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting with seven rebounds in 22 minutes. On Sunday against Maryland, in Tech’s most recent game, he sank a 3-pointer and claimed three rebounds in 10 minutes, some of them on an ankle injured in the first half.
“You’ve just got to come out and play hard every time you come out,” Royal said. “As long as you do that, everything else takes care of itself.”
Gregory, who convinced Royal to stick with Tech after Paul Hewitt left, can’t help but look beyond this season with his first recruit. Bewley foresees greater flexibility, more endurance and 10 to 15 more pounds of muscle. Gregory envisions running plays for Royal to take advantage of his perimeter shooting touch as he further embraces his coach’s physical style.
“One of the best compliments you can give somebody [is to say] ‘he can be as good as he wants to be,’” Gregory said. “He can be as good as he wants to be.”
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