Indiana Underclassmen To Watch: Romeo Langford
Check out the social hierarchy of any grade at your local high school, and more often than not you'll find multiple athletes near the top of the list.
It's just the way the world usually works at that age.
There are your run-of-the-mill popular jocks, though - and then there are the Romeo Langford's of the world.
In a basketball state like Indiana, a kid as talented as Langford can be elevated to celebrity status.
“He’s definitely quiet, but he’s also very popular,” said Jim Shannon, Langford's head coach at New Albany. “He’s even popular at other schools we visit, when we play other teams.
“I take him around to a lot of different places and a lot of people already know who he is. Most of that has to do with he’s such a gifted player. They see him on the Internet in various forms, whether it’s AAU or New Albany. They saw him last year too on our state tournament run.”
Shannon, who has served as a head coach for over 33 years, labels Langford as the best junior prospect he's ever coached "by far."
“I’ve had some great players, but it’s not even close," Shannon said. “Offensively he’s able to score the basketball from really anywhere.
“He can pull up and shoot the three; he can come off a screen and score. He can take you off the dribble and go all the way to the basket. He’s quick and he has good leaping ability.
"He’s just gifted. He’s smart. Teams have had a real difficult time trying to figure out a way to stop him.
"I’d say most coaches say they don’t think they’re going to stop him; they’re going to try to slow him down.”
Since the recruiting period opened up last Friday, Louisville and Vanderbilt had already stopped by New Albany. Staff members from Indiana, UCLA, Duke, Kansas and North Carolina thus far are also expected to come by.
The New Albany head coach noted most, if not all of the representatives from each of those programs will be the head coaches.
"I would say everyday I hear from somebody,” Shannon said. “He’s been heavily recruited for quite some time now.”
As talented as Langford is offensively, like many young players he still has room to improve. Shannon explained he works with the five-star junior often on defense.
"We talk often about learning all the nuances of being a great defender," Shannon said. "Whether it be something like closing on the basketball better, keeping his hands up more, anticipating his next move or getting through screens.
"There’s really a lot of things defensively I think any young person can get better at.”
As a sophomore, Langford averaged 29.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for a 27-1 New Albany team that won the IHSAA Class AAAA state title. He was also named first team all-state by the Associated Press and earned MaxPreps.com National Sophomore of the Year honors.
Fans can check out Langford and New Albany in several marquee games this winter, including an early matchup against 2017 five-star Kris Wilkes - a 6-7, 185-pound forward ranked as the No. 18 player nationally - and Indianapolis North Central on Dec. 10.
For a full schedule of New Albany's 2016-17 games, click here.