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Courier Journal

How's this for timing: Indiana basketball coach Archie Miller was in New Albany, Indiana on Tuesday afternoon.

He was there to watch five-star class of 2018 shooting guard Romeo Langford play basketball during an open gym session, New Albany High coach Jim Shannon told The Courier-Journal.

Miller scheduled the visit weeks ago, but the trip to show face could not have come at a better time.

It was announced earlier in the day that the Louisville Cardinals basketball program, located just seven miles away from Langford's high school, was included in a federal investigation into men's basketball recruiting.

Louisville faces many questions, among them the future of coach Rick Pitino.

As it relates to Langford, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound No. 5 overall 2018 prospect (according to 247Sports' composite rankings), the Cardinals, who hosted him for an unofficial visit for the Louisville-Clemson football game two weeks ago, were believed to be near the top of his list.

Indiana and Kansas were believed to be two other favorites and Vanderbilt a surprise that still has a chance.

Attempts to reach Langford's father, Tim Langford, were not immediately successful.

But Miller, who will host the Langford family for a visit on Oct. 21, showed up at New Albany on Tuesday at an advantageous time.

Questions moving forward

Does Louisville still have a shot to land Langford?

Langford did not cut the Cardinals from his list in June after the NCAA imposed penalties for previous infractions, including the suspension of Cardinals coach Rick Pitino for five ACC games and, "a vacation of basketball records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible" from December 2010 to July 2014, including the 2013 national title and 2012 Final Four appearance. The investigation began in 2015 after escort Katina Powell alleged former U of L basketball staffer Andre McGee paid women for dances and sex on behalf of U of L players and recruits.

"Everybody should have known they were going to get in trouble," Langford said. "It was nothing new to me."

Now Louisville is entangled in another serious situation.

Will Langford keep the Cardinals as a viable option this time?

If not, does that put Indiana or Kansas in a two-way race?

Or, would the absence of a hometown favorite improve Vanderbilt's chances?

Or, does Kentucky, included in Langford's top six but not considered a strong contender after events this summer, gain ground and get back into the running?

We'll see.

The optics of losing Langford have long been cited as the chief reason Louisville would ultimately sign Langford. But Indiana needs the smooth-shooting scorer, too.

He would be the first five-star recruit of the Miller era, and the optics of losing the potential all-time leading scorer in Indiana state history (New Albany would need another deep run in the state playoffs and Langford would have to put up roughly 37 points a game) wouldn't be good for the Hoosiers.

Optics and perceptions aside, by late summer the buzz had become that Louisville and Indiana trailed Kansas. Jayhawks coach Bill Self, along with Miller and North Carolina coach Roy Williams, watched Langford during the U-19 Team USA (coached by Kentucky coach John Calipari) training camp in Colorado Springs. Kansas has two four-star frontcourt players committed in the 2018 class, so Langford would be the highest ranked member of the class and a perimeter scorer for Self to build around for the future.

There's a long way to go and more questions than answers. But what we know after Tuesday is good for Indiana.

Miller's visit to see a great player Tuesday could not have come at a better time.