NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Romeo Langford, a five-star shooting guard and Mr. Basketball for the state of Indiana in 2018, announced his commitment to IU men’s basketball Monday night in front of thousands at his southern Indiana high school.
Langford’s decision, which he announced inside the packed basketball gym of New Albany High School, came after years of intense recruitment and speculation about his eventual college choice.
Ultimately, Langford decided among IU, Kansas and Vanderbilt, but the consensus top-10 prospect in the country also had scholarship offers from other powerhouse schools like Kentucky and North Carolina.
Several speakers took to the podium before Langford’s announcement, including Romeo’s father, Tim, New Albany athletic director Don Unruh and New Albany Coach Jim Shannon. When Langford stepped up, a trio of hats sat on the podium — one for each school in his final three.
Langford thanked coaches and family before picking up the IU hat and announcing his intention to become a Hoosier, while fans around the gym erupted into IU chants.
In four years with New Albany, Langford scored 3,002 career points and finished fourth all-time in state history for career scoring. He led his team to a Class 4A state championship in 2016 and participated in the 2018 McDonald’s All-American Game.
The six-foot-six guard might play just one season as a Hoosier before heading to the NBA, but his arrival will surely boost an already-heralded recruiting class for IU Coach Archie Miller. The Hoosiers already have four incoming freshmen as part of their 2018 recruiting class, and had the No. 21 ranked recruiting class according to 247Sports before Langford’s announcement.
247Sports’ Crystal Ball, which compiles recruiting predictions from various analysts and reporters, had IU with an 84 percent chance to land Langford as of Monday afternoon. For most of 2018, IU had only slightly better odds than Vanderbilt, which already has two five-star recruits committed for next season.
Most experts had shifted their predictions for Langford’s choice to IU in recent days and weeks after Langford announced his decision would be open to the public and to the hordes of IU fans that live in and around southern Indiana.
