Romeo Langford Dazzles With 63 Points In Win At Jennings County
Romeo Langford has set new standards and broken through barriers his whole life.
As a senior, he's scaled the state's all-time career scoring list, surpassing a number of Indiana legends along the way - he checks in at fourth in state history (2,696 points) as of Feb. 6, which means he's just 304 points from joining the 3,000-point club.
If he keeps playing like he did Feb. 1 against Jennings County, the question isn't if Langford surpasses that mark, but when.
The New Albany five-star senior guard finished with 63 points in a 102-52 road victory, smashing his previous single-game high of 48 - also a New Albany record.
Langford was held to single digit scoring in the first quarter, and New Albany found themselves ahead just 22-16 a few minutes into the second quarter.
Then, the No. 6 player in the country flipped a switch, pouring in 19 second quarter points to march the Bulldogs to a 50-20 halftime lead.
"He jumpstarted us really good there," New Albany head coach Jim Shannon said. "We took off on a run and it was obviously triggered by him.
"He made some incredible moves with the ball in his hands. Moves like stepbacks, on his right or left. He made open threes. He took it to the basket. For whatever defense they threw at him, he looked at what they were giving him, and he took it. That’s what his mindset was. It was incredible how he read how he was being defended.”
Jennings County head coach Josh Land explains his squad tried a couple of different strategies, including a triangle-and-two defense designed specifically to slow down Langford.
It worked - at least early on.
“I thought we did some really good things early in the game,” Land said. “Then basically, Romeo hit every shot he took from that point forward.
"I was proud. We went out and fought and were willing to go to battle. We played toe-to-toe for a bit and there’s a good chance we have to play them again in a month – we have to take the positives from that game and keep getting better.”
Land has been at Jennings County for at least 12 seasons, and noted he's never seen a player like Langford before.
"We tried to do things schematic-wise to try to contest every shot," he said. "What really got away from us, offensively we turned the ball over and gave them some runouts, and tried to crash the boards a little too much which might have led him to some easy looks.
"I think 20 of his 63 points were just in transition where we didn’t get a chance to guard him. He literally can score from any part of the floor. If we try to put a faster/smaller guy on him, he’ll score inside, if we put a bigger guy on him he’ll drive around us. It’s just hard to take something away from him because he’s good at everything.”
Shannon ranked the individual performance up there with Langford's 46 points as a sophomore in the semi-state championships, which delivered New Albany an 82-64 win over Southport and then 2017 four-star point guard Paul Scruggs.
In total, he finished 22-of-35 (63 percent) from the field - making 16-of-21 (76 percent) twos and 6-of-14 (43 percent) threes - plus 13-of-14 free throws, grabbed 10 rebounds and added seven steals.
Among the writers covering the Jennings County game was the News and Tribune's Tom Whitus, who sees Langford a couple times a year - his editor, Greg Mengelt, sends him to games covering many different teams each season.
Whitus has actually been a sportswriter since 1980, including time serving at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, where he covered both Kentucky and Indiana high school basketball.
He says in the span of those 38 years, Langford is the best player he's ever covered.
“What he does better than anyone I’ve seen, he facilitates," Whitus said. "It’s an interesting thing to watch because he’s already such a prolific scorer.
"But he loves to pass and loves to get his team involved. I’m sure they weren’t thinking this, but when you watch him, you get the impression he could do this any night he wants. He could hang 40, 50, 60 whenever he wants – but he likes passing, he likes getting his team involved. I don’t think scoring is his first priority.”
Sellout crowds follow Langford everywhere New Albany goes on the road. Whitus jokes at Jennings County, he had to park a quarter of a mile away from the gym because parking was so packed - and in a previous game at Scottsburg, his car got stuck in the mud because he had to park in a field.
“It’s absolutely incredible," he said. "The way fans line up for autographs after the games, and he stays there every time and sees everyone, it’s an amazing thing too. It shows the kid’s character.”
Someday, a legend like Langford will be reborn in Indiana. After all, this is a state that's groomed NBA stars like Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird.
And certainly another in-state high school player - whether they earn Langford's celebrity status or not - will repeat his 63-point performance.
Shannon, though, marvels that one particular aspect about the Jennings County game will never be repeated.
The home team's student section was actually mostly decked out in IU gear, apparently in support of Langford considering the Hoosiers among his college destinations - a final three that also includes Kansas and Vanderbilt.
The students, joined by the rest of the Jennings County crowd, chanted "IU, IU" when Langford exited the game in the fourth quarter.
"They never chanted for Romeo – they cheered for their school – but they were dressed in IU gear," Shannon said. "If you stop and think about it, they're doing that for Romeo because they want him to go to Indiana.
“The student body is dressing for the opposing team’s player. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before, and I don’t think we’ll ever see that again either."
Langford is averaging 34 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals for 17-1 overall New Albany, leading them to the No. 2 spot in Indiana's Class AAAA rankings and individually earning McDonald's All-American honors.
His 2,696 career points puts him behind DeShaun Thomas (3,018), Marion Pierce (3,019) and Damon Bailey (3,134) in that order on the state's career scoring list, with a potential 10-11 games remaining on the schedule, depending on the length of New Albany's postseason run.
They next play at Providence on Feb. 9, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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