By Dylan Butler
Two days earlier, his same son, the one who was hardly recruited to play Division I basketball when he graduated from Cardozo High School two years ago, scored 11 points against the Duke Blue Devils, currently the No. 1 team in the country.
“This is unreal,” he said as he watched his son lead the Longhorns to a 70-58 win in the consolation game of the preseason NIT. “Last year, nobody wanted him. Now look at where he is and how well he is doing. Things like this you can talk about better later on, but right now I can't believe it.”
Rod Ivey had a similar reaction when Texas head coach Rick Barnes and assistant coach Rob Lanier visited his son at their St. Albans home last year.
“When we came in to recruit Royal, his dad said, 'Why are you here? My son's not that good,'” Barnes said. “When I walked out of that house I said to Rob Lanier, 'Why can't all parents think that way?'”
It's not that Rod Ivey didn't believe in his son, but he had no idea he could be that good. After all, the same Royal Ivey who was cut from his high school team in his sophomore year was driving past the likes of Duke's Jason Williams and Mike Dunleavy. The same kid who coaches told players not to pass the ball to in the open court when he was growing up, was bringing the ball up the floor in front of 11,449 people – including 55-60 friends and family – under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden and in front of a national television audience.
Ivey came home averaging 1.0 points and 1.0 minutes a game in Texas' first two games. But with the Longhorns struggling to dribble penetrate against the Blue Devils defense, Barnes inserted Ivey into the game with 13:22 left in the first half and the 6-foot-4 freshman guard immediately delivered.
He beat the entire Duke team down the court for a layup, cutting the Blue Devils' lead to 17-8, then stole the ball at mid court and drove to the lane, drawing a foul on Shane Battier.
With 4:41 left in the first half, he again drove to the basket, beating Williams off the dribble. Ivey missed the shot, but was fouled by Duke's sophomore point guard. Ivey hit one of two from the line and Texas trailed, 39-22.
“I thought that Brandon Mouton and Royal Ivey really showed me something, the fact that they weren't afraid to go out and compete against a great basketball team,” Barnes said. “There were some things that they did tonight that were really good. They kept fighting and playing.
Ivey played 16 of the final 20 minutes of the game and impressed Barnes enough to convince the third-year Texas coach to put him in the starting lineup against Indiana. Ivey finished with 11 points, two rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes in the Longhorns' 95-69 loss to Duke.
“I think he deserves [to start], I think he did a good job with it,” Barnes said. “You have to dribble penetrate, especially when you play a team that extends their defense like Duke does, you got to be willing to put the ball on the floor and get by people and Royal Ivey and Brandon were guys who were willing to do it.”
On Thanksgiving morning, Ivey learned he would start against the Hoosiers when Texas assistant coach Rob Lanier, who first saw Ivey two years ago as an assistant at Rutgers University, pulled him aside to tell him the news.
“It kind of hit me hard,” Ivey said. “I went home and told my parents I was starting and they didn't believe me.”
While he didn't put up the same numbers he did against Duke, Ivey again impressed against Indiana in consolation of the preseason NIT. Ivey had four points, four rebounds and three assists before fouling out with 4:06 left in the game.
“I think Royal brings a lot of penetration,” said Texas junior Chris Owens, who led the Longhorns with 16 points in the win over Indiana. “He drives the ball a lot and brings a lot more enthusiasm to the point guard position as far as getting other players involved and getting open shots and making things happen a little more.”
“I am really pleased with the play of the freshman Royal Ivey,” added Barnes. “Never in his wildest imagination did he think he would come to New York – Madison Square Garden – to play the point. He really did a great job with it in two games. He got tired at the end and some of those mistakes came from that.”
Ivey has thrived in each of his three games at the World's Most Famous Arena. In addition to his two games in the preseason NIT, he had a game-high 16 points to lead Cardozo to a 57-47 win over John F. Kennedy High School as the Judges captured their first PSAL crown in 18 years two years ago. Ivey garnered MVP honors.
“You have to play well here, this is the Mecca of all arenas. Everybody has their eyes on you and you just have to show your talent,” Ivey said. “This is my third time playing at the Garden and I'm kind of getting used to it. Hopefully, I can come back and play some more games here.”
