After Romeo Langford drops 24 at Bloomington South, IU fans hope he'll come back to B-Town
BLOOMINGTON – As the New Albany bus pulled up on the west side of Bloomington South High School's gym, fans were lining up at the ticket booth over on the east side. There were folks dressed in purple to support their hometown Panthers, and then a whole bunch of red.
There was the Bulldog red, accented with black, and the Hoosier crimson, wed with cream. It was just after 5 p.m. and they all knew the main event wouldn't start until 7:30. But these people, you know, are willing to wait for Romeo Langford.
About 10 rows in front of the group of Indiana University players in attendance to watch the five-star recruit (Clifton Moore, Josh Smith, Race Thompson and Curtis Jones were among them) was IU student, Drew Miller. He held up a sign: "Welcome to B-Town, Romeo. Stay for a little while! Like 2-4 years ... please."
And what if Langford really did? What if he committed to the Hoosiers and gave Archie Miller the best first recruiting class he could hope for?
"Oh man," Drew said, as he held up his right forearm. "I've got goosebumps just thinking about it."
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Langford, who dropped 24 points in New Albany's 70-58 win Saturday, has been selling out gyms across the state for three years. He's chasing Damon Bailey's career scoring record, and fans here pay attention when basketball history is unfolding. There's a table set up for autographs after every road game Langford plays. There's always a line of fans.
Samantha and Josh Green, both IU die-hards, were crunching numbers before the game, figuring what it would take Langford to break Bailey's mark. After dropping a combined 72 in his first two outings, Langford needs 983.
"He'd probably be the biggest recruit in Indiana history," Josh Green said from underneath his Hoosiers ball cap. "If he doesn't come, I'll be bummed."
Down courtside, there was a fan with an IU hoodie and a New Albany hat — mixing in both shades of red. Ryan Robison, a senior on the Bulldogs baseball team, played basketball with Langford in middle school.
"We used to combine to drop 40," he said with a laugh. They still do from time to time, only difference is Robison is in the stands now. He wishes he'd stuck with basketball, just to experience all this fanfare.
"My dad would never come to a game or anything. He just said, 'It's not like it was,' when he was in school," Robison said. "(Dad) goes to all the games now. (Romeo) has just brought that tradition back."
He, too, is pulling for Langford to stick around in B-Town.
"I've wanted him to go there," Robison said. "For years now."
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Langford was held to 24 points (as crazy as that sounds) as Bloomington South sent two defenders his way every time he touched the ball. He was wrapped up during a fast-break and drew an intentional foul, then sunk an absurd mid-range shot at the baseline after hitting two free throws.
And he viciously dunked on a Bloomington South player after nabbing a rebound. He made the highlight plays like he always does, but whatever college he chooses, finally getting another star or two to share the attention with will be welcome.
Darius Garland, who was with Langford at Hoosier Hysteria, recently became the second five-star recruit to commit to former IndyStar Mr. Basketball Bryce Drew at Vanderbilt. He's offering to be that guy. The Commodores, along with the Hoosiers and Kansas Jayhawks, are one of Langford's final three squads.
"(Garland) wants me to come," Langford said. "Because now they got (five-star big man) Simisola Shittu, and he feels like we'd be a 'big three' if I went there."
Langford says he doesn't have any plans for visits yet this spring, but he'll schedule some to see each of his top three schools, eventually. As for what he's hearing from IU right now?
"Same pitch as from Day 1," he said.
The Hoosier faithful gave their pitch Saturday night, too: Welcome to B-Town, Romeo. Stay for a little while!
You can find IndyStar sports producer Dakota Crawford on Twitter: @DakotaCrawford_.