New Albany High School to Name Basketball Court After Romeo Langford

Romeo Langford graduated high school in 2018 as Indiana Mr. Basketball, and now his home court at New Albany High School will be named after him.

Nicknamed the Dog House, New Albany High School's basketball arena will now carry another name. 

New Albany High School announced on Monday that the NAFCS school board accepted and approved 7-0 the recommendation to name the New Albany High School basketball court after Romeo Langford.

Langford graduated from New Albany in 2018 and was named Indiana Mr. Basketball as a senior. During the 2017-2018 season, Langford averaged 35.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, three steals and 1.9 blocks per game. Across 75 total games, Langford scored 2,343 points, good for a 31.2 average. 

When Langford was a sophomore averaging 29.3 points per game, New Albany won the Class 4A state championship. They'd fail to repeat as state champions with Langford, but the Bulldogs reached the semi-state champions when Langford was a senior and the regional championship when Langford was a junior. 

Coming out of high school, Langford was one of the most sough-after recruits in Indiana high school basketball history. A five-star recruit, Langford was the No. 1 ranked player in Indiana and the No. 7 player in the country, according to 247Sports. Playing against the top recruits in his class, Langford scored 19 points at the 2018 McDonald's All-American and 14 points at the Jordan Brand Classic.

Langford chose to attend Indiana University over two other finalists, Kansas and Vanderbilt. Langford became the second-highest recruit to ever commit to Indiana, behind Eric Gordon who was the No. 1 player in the class of 2007.

Langford joined the Hoosiers in former head coach Archie Miller's second season, arriving in Bloomington with as much hype as any incoming freshman in Indiana history. Starting 32 games for Indiana, Langford played 34.1 minutes per game and averaged 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and just under one block and one steal per game. 

He shot 45 percent from the field, 27 percent from 3 and 72 percent from the free throw line. Indiana was ranked in the top 25 for five consecutive weeks in December, but the Hoosiers collapsed in January and February, losing 12 of 13 games at one point. Langford and the Hoosiers rallied to win the final four games of the regular season, but lost to Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to seal their fate in the NIT.

Langford sat out the NIT to preserve his NBA draft stock after it was revealed that he was playing almost the entire season with a torn ligament in his thumb. Langford's draft stock dropped a bit because of the injury and his performance during the season, and he was ultimately selected 14th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2019 NBA Draft. 

"I think it's fair to say that we never got a chance to see me at my best at the college level, especially since I've been playing with basically a cast on my thumb the whole season," Romeo Langford said in an interview with ESPN in 2019. 

Since leaving Indiana after one season, he has dealt with multiple injuries and has struggled to carve out a significant role in the NBA. He has started 11 games and appeared in 98, averaging 14.5 minutes per game. Langford played two and a half seasons for the Celtics before being traded at the 2022 NBA trade deadline along with Josh Richardson and a first round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Derrick White.

Across his NBA career, Langford has averaged 3.6 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. He has shot 40 percent from the field, 30 percent from 3 and 63 percent from the line. Langford scored a career-high 17 points in the 2021 NBA playoffs in Brooklyn on June 6. 

Langford's NBA career has gotten off to a shaky start for a variety of reasons – injuries, playing behind All-Stars at his position in Boston and shooting struggles – but he's still just 22 years old. If he can stay healthy on a consistent basis and improve his shooting percentages, his 6-foot-5, versatile frame could carve out a solid NBA career. 

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