BLOOMINGTON – It was Romeo Langford’s decision to switch the nature of his IU visit this past weekend.

Langford had long been scheduled to take an unofficial visit to Indiana for coach Archie Miller’s first Hoosier Hysteria. But late in the week, the New Albany star ranked No. 5 in the country by the 247Sports Composite tweeted that his visit had been altered, and would be an official instead.

That meant an entire weekend on campus in Bloomington — a weekend that did not disappoint.

“The visit went well,” Tim Langford, Romeo’s father, told IndyStar. “It was the first time we got a chance to actually go around the university, see how they work, see how they run things. Met (Athletic Director Fred Glass), met the academic adviser, met the strength and conditioning coach, met all the coaching staff.

“It was a good time, and (Saturday) afternoon, went to Hoosier Hysteria, which was a good experience.”

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The switch to an official visit was motivated, Tim Langford said, by his son’s desire to take a more in-depth look at Indiana. Whereas unofficial visits must be paid for by recruits themselves, officials can mostly be covered by the host program, and often last multiple days.

“My son wanted to do an official there,” Tim Langford said. “He wanted to get to know the coaching staff a little bit more, and actually visit the campus.”

That’s how the biggest recruiting weekend of Miller’s still-young tenure added its final layer, injecting just a little more juice into the Hoosiers’ annual season tipoff event.

Langford joined fellow five-star 2018 guard Darius Garland (No. 10 in the 247Sports Composite), as well as 2019 in-state standouts Keion Brooks (Fort Wayne North Side) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (Center Grove). Three of IU’s four 2018 commitments, Robert Phinisee, Jerome Hunter and Damezi Anderson, also made the trip.

Each recruit got his own curtain call, as they were walked one by one across the Assembly Hall floor to loud ovations from a 12,000-strong crowd. All those recruits sat behind IU’s bench for the entirety of the event.

“To be honest with you, it was exciting,” Tim Langford said. “It was unexpected really. We didn’t know what to expect on that, but with them doing that, it was a great atmosphere. I felt it personally. I know my son did. The whole family did.”

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The trip included plenty of one-on-one time with Miller as well.

Miller arrived late to Langford’s recruitment, because of the coaching change in March. Tom Crean and his staff had also recruited Langford, but staff turnover sent IU back to square one.

Hence the importance of using this weekend to learn more about Miller’s personality, style and system.

“Mainly, coach Miller, he really had the vision for how he can use Romeo,” Tim Langford said. “He showed the style of play they play, up and down, which my son likes doing. Getting the ball in his hands. He was the main one talking about how they could use him.

“He pretty much laid the plan down. I think my son, he likes the style of play and what (Archie's) trying to do at Indiana University.”

Langford and Garland together constitute the entirety of IU’s remaining focus in 2018. Both have now taken official visits to Bloomington, and landing either would firm up the highest-ranked recruiting class Indiana has seen since at least 2013.

While Garland plans to commit by the fall signing window, which opens Nov. 8, Langford could still wait until the spring to make a final decision.

There’s one more official visit on the schedule, to Kansas this weekend. Then Tim Langford said his family will try to have Romeo’s five remaining schools (IU, Kansas, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, UCLA) narrowed to three by Thanksgiving.

Unless, that is, Romeo Langford calls another audible.

“We’re gonna sit down and talk as a family, try to narrow it down to three," Tim Langford said. "If my son says he knows what school he wants to go to, we’ll make that announcement then.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

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