Indiana Basketball: Romeo Langford 2019 NBA Draft Primer

(UPDATE:  Langford goes to Boston with the No. 14 pick)

The 2019 NBA Draft will be held on Thursday, June 20 at 7 p.m. ET at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The NBA Draft will air live on ESPN and ESPN Radio and stream live on the ESPN App.

Indiana’s Romeo Langford is expected to be Indiana University’s 26th all-time first round draft choice.

Here is everything you need to know about Langford going into the event.

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ROMEO LANGFORD

Height:  6-foot-6

Weight:  215

Position:  Shooting Guard

Hometown:  New Albany, Indiana

In his lone season in Bloomington, Langford averaged 16.5 points per game.  He added 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, .8 blocks and .7 steals per contests.  Langford shot 45% overall from the field including 27% from three-point range.  He was 72% from the free throw line.

Indiana head coach Archie Miller on Langford’s midseason defensive improvement and potential on that end of the floor:

“Yeah, I think you saw him sort of as a guy early on be a little bit more cautious defensively; now, I think you see a guy that’s very confident in knowing what to do.

He’s got great talent and length so he’s going to be an excellent defender, and he’s got so much more experience to keep gaining but his size and his length and some of the things that he can do on the ball and challenging shots and whatnot cause problems; and he can guard one, two, or three for the most part if we want him to guard any perimeter guy.”

Some of Langford’s accolades on the 2018-19 season included:

• Second team All-Big Ten
• Led team in scoring
• Led all Big Ten freshmen in scoring
• Sixth in Big Ten overall in scoring
• Third highest scoring average among major college freshmen
• Second on the team in rebounds and blocks, third in assists, fourth in steals
• Third most points ever by an IU freshman

MOCK DRAFT PREDICTIONS FOR LANGFORD

ESPN Insider: No. 18 (Indiana Pacers)
The Ringer: No. 15 (Detroit Pistons)
Sports Illustrated:  No. 21 (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Sporting News: No. 26 (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Net Scouts Basketball: No. 16 (Orlando Magic)
Bleacher Report: No. 13 (Miami Heat)
Yahoo Sports: No. 13 (Miami Heat)
CBS Sports: No. 15 (Detroit Pistons)
Basketball Insiders: No. 13 (Miami Heat)

NBA DRAFT MEDIA DAY COMMENTS

.@yeahyeah22 talks about what he learned during his time at #IUBB that helped him prepare for the @NBA 🎤 pic.twitter.com/VgB2gweqMm

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) June 19, 2019

Former #IUBB star and Mr Basketball Romeo Langford is in NYC for tomorrow's #NBADraft. A long draft process, continues in front of the NY media today… pic.twitter.com/EvVHBhxQ16

— Dave Furst (@DaveFurst) June 19, 2019

You can see interviews at the NBA Draft combine here.

SELECTED ASSESSMENTS

Krysten Peek — Yahoo

“After Dwyane Wade’s retirement, Langford is the ideal prospect to come in and fill Miami’s hole at shooting guard. Langford played with a torn ligament in his thumb during his one year of college ball at Indiana but was one of the top shooting guards in high school, averaging 35 points per game his senior season.”

Jeremy Woo — Sports Illustrated

“Langford played through injuries during the season and does have a strong long-term track record as a scorer, and he’s positioned as a buy-low opportunity for someone. It’s just that he has no true elite skill to sell right now. His jumper remains a big question, and he has to improve his game off the dribble, but there’s still a good chance he’s better than what he showed at Indiana.”

Kyle Irving – Sporting News

“Coming out of high school, Langford was a projected top-10 pick in this draft class. Even throughout the majority of his freshman season at Indiana, he was still seen to be a lottery pick.

His inconsistency in that one season has dropped him out of the lottery but his upside potential keeps him in the first round. His jump shot needs work and his decision making is questionable at times, but Langford still has the athleticism and body to make a career for himself in the NBA.”

THE UNCERTAINTY

With questions about his perimeter shot, and whether legitimate or not — his on-court demeanor, Langford has perhaps the widest range of expectations in the draft, from mentions as a sneaky top 10 pick to almost completely falling out of the first round.

One guy that many NBA execs feel like could slip tonight is Romeo Langford. Was regarded as a potential high lottery pick entering the year, had up and down season at Indiana and hasn’t been able to work out for teams due to injury. Most project in the 10-15 range, but could fall

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 20, 2019

7) the player that I felt like people clammed up on when I asked about was Romeo Langford. Makes me think he could go higher than expected. It was weird. Couldn’t get a strong opinion on him from more than a few guys.

The End.

— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) June 20, 2019

FULL LENGTH SCOUTING VIDEO

ESPN prepared a more than 15 minute video going through all of Langford’s strengths and weaknesses.

2019 NBA DRAFT FIRST ROUND ORDER

Likely landing spots for Langford in bold.

1. New Orleans
2. Memphis
3. New York
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. Cleveland
6. Phoenix
7. Chicago
8. Atlanta
9. Washington
10. Atlanta (from Dallas)
11. Minnesota
12. Charlotte
13. Miami
14. Boston (from Sacramento via Philadelphia)

——Lottery Line———————————————-

15. Detroit
16. Orlando
17. Brooklyn
18. Indiana
19. San Antonio     
20. Boston  (from LA Clippers via Memphis)
21. Oklahoma City
22. Boston
23. Utah
24. Philadelphia
25. Portland
26. Cleveland  (from Houston)
27. Brooklyn  (from Denver)
28. Golden State
29. San Antonio  (from Toronto)
30. Milwaukee

INDIANA ALL-TIME FIRST ROUND SELECTIONS

IU ranks seventh all-time among college and universities with 25 first round choices since the draft began in 1947 (via NCAA.com).

The following list is via Indiana University Athletics:

1st
Walt Bellamy, Chicago, 1961
Kent Benson, Milwaukee, 1977

2^nd
Archie Dees, Cincinnati, 1958
Scott May, Chicago, 1976
Isiah Thomas, Detroit, 1981
Victor Oladipo, Orlando, 2013

4^th
Cody Zeller, Charlotte, 2013

6^th
Calbert Cheaney, Washington, 1993

7^th
Quinn Buckner, Milwaukee, 1976
Eric Gordon, Los Angeles Clippers, 2008

8^th
Ward Williams, Fort Wayne, 1948

9^th
Noah Vonleh, Charlotte, 2014

11^th
Bob Wilkerson, Seattle, 1976
Jared Jeffries, Washington, 2002

12^th
Mike Woodson, New York Knicks, 1980

16^th
Alan Henderson, Atlanta, 1995
Kirk Haston, Charlotte, 2001

17^th
Steve Downing, Boston, 1973
Uwe Blab, Dallas, 1985
Greg Graham, Charlotte, 1993

18^th
Ray Tolbert, New Jersey, 1981

22^nd
Randy Wittman, Washington, 1983

23^rd
OG Anunoby, Toronto, 2017

27^th
Brian Evans, Orlando, 1995

29^th
D.J. White, Detroit, 2008

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