Fans lined up for hours outside of New Albany High School. By the time 7:00 struck, several thousand fans were packed inside the nearly full 4,100 seat gymnasium to hear one of the most anticipated college basketball recruiting announcements in recent memory. Would it be Indiana, Kansas or Vanderbilt?
After opening remarks by New Albany Head Coach Jim Shannon, the family Reverend, and Tim Langford, along with some videos, it was time for Romeo Langford to speak.
As a soft spoken young man of few words, you just knew it wouldn’t take long for Romeo to make the announcement.
Romeo thanked God, his parents, siblings, coaches, teammates and the fans for coming to the announcement.
Vanderbilt, Indiana and Kansas hats sat atop the podium. Romeo said he would like to continue his education and basketball career at….and at that point he reached for the middle hat. It was a cream and crimson hat that had the logo of….
INDIANA!
The vast majority IU crowd erupted. Romeo Langford would stay in-state.
You can watch the full ceremony and post-announcement interviews here:
The decision marks what is at least the biggest recruiting win for IU since Cody Zeller in 2011. Similar to the Zeller situation, Langford’s commitment will be considered a turning point in the program under the direction of Archie Miller. Indiana will likely be one of a few teams favored to win the Big Ten title during the 2018-19 season as long as Juwan Morgan does not go the professional route.
Langford won the state of Indiana’s Mr. Basketball award on Sunday night. He is the first Indiana Mr. Basketball since Zeller to commit to play for the Hoosiers.
Indiana’s 2018 recruiting class moved into the Top 10 nationally according to the 247 composite upon Langford’s announcement. The class had been fluctuating in the 20’s in the months prior to his commitment.
Langford is fourth on the Indiana high school boys basketball all-time scoring list with 3,002 points. He averaged 35.5 points per game as a senior, along with 9.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and three steals.
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