As Romeo Langford's family calmly nears college decision, other coaches keep recruiting

NEW ALBANY – Inside the walls of Tim and Sabrina Langford’s home in New Albany, there is refuge from the questions. Better yet, the question. Everybody wants to know: Where is Romeo Langford going to school? Some ask. At the grocery store, Sabrina Langford has overheard strangers wondering aloud about the next stop for the youngest of her three children.

Finally, after one recent interaction with one of her closest friends, Sabrina had her own question.

“I’m like, ‘What is it?’” Sabrina asked. “From a fans’ perspective, what is it about this that has you all going? He’s just a high school kid going to play basketball. What is the big deal?’”

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Sabrina laughed at her friend’s response: “Sabrina, you can tell me,” she said. “We just want to know!”

The countdown is on, ticking down to a handful of days (counted on one hand) until the New Albany star makes his announcement at 7 p.m. Monday during a public gathering in the New Albany gym. Romeo, for his part, seems unbothered by the noise and questions. It seems that the only one who has not asked about his college destination is the 10-month-old mixed terrier that paws at the Langfords’ back door when she is ready to come in the house.

The dog’s name? It has three. And no, they are not “Indiana”, “Kansas” and “Vanderbilt.”

“I call her ‘Lulu’, the kids call her ‘Cleo’ and (Tim) calls her ‘Cli Cli,’” Sabrina said.

Romeo is more decisive about his college choice than the Langfords are about their dog’s name. “He can be a decisive person,” said oldest sister Tisha Langford, 23, an Indiana State graduate who works in human resources and marketing. “But he also thinks about it first. He’s not going to just go and do it. When he does it, he’s committed. He’s not going to change his mind.”

It is also surprising to Tisha that her younger brother’s decision has so many people’s attention. To her, Romeo is that annoying little brother who would hold something just in the way of the television to block her view or ability to change the channel.

“Very childish,” she said with a smile.

But Tisha and sister Tiffany, 20, are protective of little brother, too. While Romeo does not go out of his way to read comments about his college decision between Indiana, Kansas and Vanderbilt on social media, Tisha takes note.

“I think some of that comes naturally,” she said. “I know my mom and dad don’t read the comments, but I have to know. So yes, I’m very in tune with the comments and trends. I think I’m probably more protective of him now that I’ve ever been.”

Not that Romeo needs much protecting in New Albany. The nation’s No. 6-ranked high school basketball player in the country is the most recognizable face in this Ohio River city of 36,000-plus. He is invited to elementary school graduations, birthday parties and other social gatherings. He has seven appearances already booked for May.

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“If I can make a little kid’s day then I like to do it,” Romeo said. “It’s not like I have to do too much. I just sit there and they look at me. Then we eat and take pictures.”

The outpouring of love for Romeo in New Albany is a big reason why the family decided to schedule the announcement for Monday and open it up the public. While there has been speculation that scheduling a public announcement could bode well for Indiana’s chances (considering many New Albany fans are also Indiana fans), it might be wise not to read too much into that decision.

“I don’t think it is going to be a negative reaction if I don’t pick IU,” Langford said. “I think they will support me either way, wherever I go.”

Tim Langford said it probably would have been easier to announce the decision on Instagram. After talking it over with Romeo and New Albany coach Jim Shannon, the Langfords decided it would be a natural to make the announcement in front of the same fans who watched him score 3,002 points over four years, win a state championship and compile a 100-10 record.

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“You can’t please everybody,” Tim Langford said. “You control what you can control. Doing it in public, that is just to show our appreciation of a great four years at New Albany. He wanted to do something different and allow the fans to be a part of it. But as far as pleasing all of the fans? You aren’t going to do that no matter what you do.”

Romeo was originally going to take one more visit to Indiana in April before making his announcement. But after trips to Atlanta (McDonald’s All-American game), Brooklyn (Jordan Brand Classic) and Portland, Ore. (Nike Hoops Summit), Langford decided he had enough information to decide without taking anymore visits.

At the Nike Hoops Summit, he attended a Portland Trail Blazers game. As he sat with Kansas recruit Quentin Grimes, the two talked about the NBA.

“I think about it more now,” Langford said. “I’m coming closer to it. I think, ‘Just in like eight more months, then I’ll be out there playing with these guys.’ Watching that game in Portland, I was with Quentin and it was like, ‘We could be out there in a couple months.’ It seems more realistic now.”

There are little milestones first: the New Albany team banquet on Thursday, Junior/Senior prom on Saturday and the IndyStar Indiana Sports Awards show on Sunday, where he will be the overwhelming favorite to win Mr. Basketball.

Then, on Monday, a decision.

“I’m not nervous,” he said. “I’m just excited and anxious for the day. I’m excited that everybody will know where I’m going.”

Other coaches still call or text Tim Langford, just to make sure he knows there is a spot available for his son. Georgia Tech, Florida State, Texas A&M, Louisville, North Carolina State and Memphis are among them. Even newly hired Evansville coach Walter McCarty reached out. Why not, right?

“I guess they will all stop calling after Monday, too,” Tim Langford said with a chuckle.

The elder Langford said Archie Miller’s first year as Indiana coach was impressive. The Hoosiers finished 16-15 but the overall view of the team was favorable, from the Langfords’ perspective.

“He’s an aggressive coach from what we’ve seen,” Tim Langford said of Miller. “The offense, and the way he describes it, we can see Romeo really doing some things. They spread the floor and keep that ball moving around. (Indiana) didn’t get in the final three just because we’re from Indiana. Romeo got a good feel for how he coaches.”

It is maybe a misconception that Indiana would not have been part of the picture if Tom Crean were still coaching. Tim Langford said the family had a good relationship with Crean going back to Hoosier Hysteria in Romeo’s freshman season.

“A lot of Indiana fans didn’t, but we liked coach Crean,” Langford said. “They would have been in the mix. After he got fired, he stayed in contact for three months, asking how Romeo is doing and things like that. Even when he got the Georgia job, he texted us. We liked him, not just as a coach but a person.”

Even after Romeo cut his list to three before the season, Tim would let him know when another school made contact. Romeo’s answer was the same every time: “I’m sticking to those three.”

“Even as good as some of those schools might sound, Romeo always wanted to keep it at three,” Tim said.

Romeo’s toughest audience might be his mother. Sabrina Langford is, admittedly, not easily impressed. She preaches humility to her three children. “I don’t like cockiness,” she said. “The minute you get cocky, it is going to come down on you.”

That mentality might explain why Romeo has such a poker face, both on the basketball court and in his recruitment. From the outside, that is sometimes perceived as a negative. Scouts and analysts have wondered aloud about his passion, taking a cue from his lack of expression on the court. Tisha heard the same.

“I’ve heard people think that because he’s not out there sweating and breathing hard that he’s not playing hard,” Sabrina said. “Romeo works hard on the court. There have been times where I’ve had to tell him, ‘You look a little slow today. Pick it up.’ But he works hard.”

Sabrina told Romeo from a young age: “Do something to ‘wow’ me.”

“If I stand up, you’ve done something to impress me,” she said.

March 19, 2016. The Tiernan Center in Richmond. A packed house of 8,000 fans for the Class 4A semistate between New Albany and Southport included then-Louisville coach Rick Pitino. Tim Langford turned to a friend before the game and told him Romeo was “about to go off.” He did. Romeo had 25 points by halftime and 43 by the end of the third quarter. He finished with 46 and by the time the buzzer sounded, he was a household name in Indiana.

Even Sabrina stood and cheered that afternoon.

“I was very impressed,” she said. “He really impressed me that game.”

Though Romeo’s high school career ended with a heartbreaking 64-62 loss to Warren Central in the 4A semistate at Seymour, Sabrina will remember the mood in the sold-out Seymour gym before the game.

“When you talk about the gym buzzing, it was actually buzzing,” she said. “I can feel those moments now and see everybody standing way up at the top. I had to ask my girls, ‘Was it always like this?’ I couldn’t remember. But it’s special.”

Sabrina said she does not yet know what Romeo has decided. She will, by the time he steps in front of the crowd at the New Albany gym on Monday night. Romeo said he does not plan to tell anyone else – other than his family – before he tells the rest of the world.

“I’m just going to get up there and announce it,” Romeo said.

And then? No more questions.

“It will be normalcy,” Sabrina said. “That will be nice.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6644.

You can see Romeo Langford, a finalist for IndyStar Mr. Basketball, at our Sports Awards banquet on April 29 at Clowes Hall on Butler University's campus.