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ccgeneral

(2018) SG Romeo Langford - INDIANA HOOSIERS

By ccgeneral, in Indiana Men's Basketball

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Tak42    103

Tak42
Posted
Interesting read especially for many of us who are especially high on Robert Phinisee's IU career.
Justin Kenney - Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:  What if Romeo Langford isn’t the most important 2018 recruit for Indiana?
On April 30 when he makes his college choice, Romeo Langford will become either one of the most loved Hoosiers of all time or one of the most despised.
It is likely at this point that the former will be correct.
But what if I was to tell you that Romeo Langford is NOT the most important recruit for the Indiana University Hoosiers in the Class of 2018?
Oh, I’m dead serious.
Now is about the time that most will stop reading this, go to Twitter or their nearest IU basketball message board, and call me names. Just save yourself some time. I’m married, so I’ve been called every name in the book.
So hear me out.
Since the departure of Yogi Ferrell following the 2015-16 season, Indiana has struggled to find a true, dual-threat point guard. Josh Newkirk was not the answer. Robert Johnson was probably the guard with the best passing skills over the last two years, but he was a natural two guard.
Devonte Green? Inconsistency has been the lone consistent trait of the combo guard over two seasons.
Al Durham? Eh, maybe.
Numbers back up the narrative. This past season, Indiana ranked 119th in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, near the likes of Jacksonville State and Santa Clara. To be fair, this is a tremendous improvement from the 2016-17 campaign when the Hoosiers ranked 236th. But it is still far from good. Three of this year’s Final Four teams ranked in the top 19 in the statistic, with Loyola-Chicago (68th) the outlier.
The Hoosiers also ranked 121st in the nation in assists per game, tied with Fort Wayne, you know, that Summit League program that has punked IU in back-to-back years.
Despite Langford’s elite scoring ability and five-star status, he is not the guy that, long-term, holds the key to a hoops resurgence in Bloomington.
Hoosier fans, your most important recruit is point guard Robert Phinisee.
The senior concluded his McCutcheon career as one of only 53 prep basketball players in Indiana to surpass 2,000 career points. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound point averaged 29.4 points and 5.8 assists per game in his final year with the Mavericks. He is as smooth of a scorer in this state this side of Romeo with exceptional court vision and the knowledge and skill needed to develop into one of the best college point guards in the country.
But most important of all, unlike Romeo, Phinisee will be an Indiana Hoosier for multiple seasons.
Yes, landing Romeo will be huge for Indiana. It will give Coach Archie Miller and the Hoosiers a five-star in-state talent to immediately insert into a lineup that desperately needs an influx of elite. It could, COULD influence the likes of Keion Brooks Jr. and Trayce Jackson-Davis as IU zeroes in on the best in the Class of 2019.
But what does Romeo get you long term? If he delivers as advertised at the college level, Indiana will have him for one year. If Hoosier Nation is lucky enough that he pulls a Miles Bridges, you stretch that to two years.
Are two years enough to return Indiana to college basketball’s elite? Does Romeo unlock the doors into the living rooms of other five-star talents in the coming years?
Those questions are open for debate. But you know what isn’t?
Duke has four of the top 12 Class of 2018 prospects (according to 247sports.com) locked up. That’s four Romeos.
Kentucky has three of the top 20 players in this class – all five-star guys. That’s arguably three Romeos.
Conclusion: Landing a single Romeo Langford does not put you among the Dukes and Kentuckys of the world.
But landing a Phinisee? A guy who could end up being a three-year starter at the point (I am predicting he does not start as a true frosh)? Someone who has the moxie, selflessness, and versatility to be a true floor leader for the Hoosiers?
Let’s take a look at the Final Four teams this year and examine their point guards.
Kansas had Devonte’ Graham, a four-year player in the program who averaged over seven assists a game as a senior.
Michigan? Sophomore Zavier Simpson was the primary point in a three-guard rotation. Senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman saw plenty of action as a one guard as well, boasting the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio (4.33) in the country and No. 1 in the Big Ten.
Villanova, of course, had Jalen Brunson, who earned the starting point guard spot as a freshman to help the program to a national title in 2016. He did it again as a seasoned junior this year.
Loyola-Chicago’s top two assist guys were veterans junior Clayton Custer and senior Ben Richardson.
The point is, as exciting as landing one-and-done talent is, it is the multiple-year guys that truly make the longer-lasting difference on a program. No one outside of Duke and Kentucky can stay elite by continuing to land five-star talent that exits to the NBA after a year or two.
A Romeo Langford commitment to Indiana on April 30 will certainly feel like a state holiday for legions of Hoosiers fans. It will give the program what it needs in the short term, but will it make a difference three or four years from now?
With Phinisee, that is not even a question.

Good read. Agree with you 100%.


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HoosierSadaseci    2,258

HoosierSadaseci
Posted

I really shouldn't have strayed over to the Kansas board, should have stuck to the IU boards, those KU fans are so arrogant, I mean the Vandy fans are sort of like that with their current recruiting class, but Vanderbilt has never won anything so it's kind of funny how they act, but KU has won and is a great program so their arrogance is at a whole different level.  However they aren't all bad, there are a few who have been respectful to IU and Archie.

The feeling I have gotten lately is the Vanderbilt insiders aren't as confident to land Romeo now, and Kansas insiders seem split, some feel he's an IU lean, others are certain he's heading to Kansas, and of course many IU insiders like IU's chances.  

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HoosierSadaseci    2,258

HoosierSadaseci
Posted
11 minutes ago, Iugradman said:

Self visiting Romeo would have been all over the news. Something like that doesn't stay hidden. Tim Langford said there have been no visits and they don’t plan on having any more.

I agree, but the poster claims there will be news coming from it this weekend.  We shall see,  I'm not worried about it though.

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GloryDays    5,886

GloryDays
Posted

Romeo doesn’t necessarily make Indiana cool again but what it does is show that a top 5 player chose Archie as the coach to take his game to the next level. It shows other top kids they can trust Archie moving forward

Totally agree.
Crean had that going with Zeller but in my opinion never utilized him correctly.We still got Vonleh but he saw the coaching flaws.I still dont know how we got Bryant.Maybe I don't want to.
Ive seen enough of Archie to know already that if he has a stud horse he's going to ride them to the finish line.Kids and coaches will see this just like they saw Crean for what he was.
Just my opinion.


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RaceToTheTop    23,451

RaceToTheTop
Posted
2 hours ago, Woodson1980 said:

Romeo doesn’t necessarily make Indiana cool again but what it does is show that a top 5 player chose Archie as the coach to take his game to the next level. It shows other top kids they can trust Archie moving forward

Totally agree.
Crean had that going with Zeller but in my opinion never utilized him correctly.We still got Vonleh but he saw the coaching flaws.I still dont know how we got Bryant.Maybe I don't want to.
Ive seen enough of Archie to know already that if he has a stud horse he's going to ride them to the finish line.Kids and coaches will see this just like they saw Crean for what he was.
Just my opinion.


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Main reason we got Bryant was the hot water Syracuse got in with the NCAA.

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HooHooHoo22    3,902

HooHooHoo22
Posted

Are there new rumors going around or what ? Nothing on twitter at all about Kansas or Vandy. All IU talk. Not a single tweet about a Kansas visit earlier this week. Who knows


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HoosierHoops1    5,024

HoosierHoops1
Posted
1 hour ago, HooHooHoo22 said:

Are there new rumors going around or what ? Nothing on twitter at all about Kansas or Vandy. All IU talk. Not a single tweet about a Kansas visit earlier this week. Who knows


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Little blurb from Kansas City Star yesterday.

 

What are KU's odds to land Romeo Langford, Rivals' sixth-ranked player in the 2018 class who is announcing April 30?

Let's say it this way: KU is probably not the favorite, but it's also difficult to ever rule coach Bill Self out in these types of situations.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello wrote about Langford some in an Insider article two days ago, saying KU is making a late push even if Indiana is still considered the leader.

To address the second Twitter question above: No, I don't believe the KU-FBI situation should affect Langford's recruitment. Our Sam Mellinger wrote a good story on the topic earlier this week, and as he mentioned, nothing from the FBI has linked KU's coaching staff or program to having knowledge of the payments made by Adidas' Jim Gatto to KU players.

A weird radio interview from Keelon Lawson this week (that I'm sure he wishes he wouldn't have done) might have raised the attention of people who haven't followed the situation closely, but for Langford, I wouldn't think the latest FBI findings would affect his thoughts on KU.

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