Romeo James Langford (born October 25, 1999) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

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for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

. Langford was ranked as one of the highest prospects in the college class of 2019; he finished as the 5th overall prospect in the 2018 247sports rankings. A shooting guard, he was drafted by the Celtics 14th overall in the 2019 NBA draft.

High school career

Langford attended New Albany High School. Despite substantial interest from multiple prep schools, Langford chose to spend his four high school years at New Albany. As a freshman, Langford led New Albany to a 23–3 record and the regional tournament while averaging 17.1 points and 6.0

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

. In his sophomore year, he averaged 30.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while leading New Albany to a 27–1 record and a class 4A state championship, the school's first state title since 1973. In his junior year, he averaged 28.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, leading New Albany to a 25–4 record and to the class 4A state quarterfinals. On November 21, 2017, Langford opened up his senior season with a then career high 48 points in a 110–36 victory over Charlestown. On February 1, Langford scored a new career high 63 points against Jennings County. On January 16, 2018, Langford was announced as a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

to participate in the 2018 game., where he competed and won the Legends and Stars Shootout competition. Langford finished his high school career fourth on the all-time Indiana state scoring list with 3,002 points. The penultimate award of his high school career, Langford was crowned Indiana Mr. Basketball of 2018 at the annual IndyStar Sports Awards ceremony. In addition, he was also named the Boys Athlete of the Year.

Recruiting

Langford was rated as a 5 star recruit by

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

Scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

, and

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, which have praised him for his electric scoring and playmaking abilities. Langford was recruited in high school by numerous high-profile schools, including

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, Vanderbilt,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and

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, and was visited by multiple coaches including

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College C ...

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

, Roy Williams, and Archie Miller. On November 11, 2017, Langford announced via

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that he had narrowed his choices down to Indiana, Kansas, and Vanderbilt. When asked about a timeline for his decision, Langford emphasized that he didn't want to rush the decision, and that he would "probably be making isdecision after the season." He announced on April 11, 2018 that he would declare his college choice on April 30 at New Albany High School. On April 30, 2018, he announced his intention to play for his home state Indiana University. He is the 27th former Indiana Mr. Basketball and 21st former McDonald's All-American to play basketball at Indiana.

College career

Langford, who was

’s No. 1

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

in the Class of 2018 and Indiana’s

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

, played one college season in his home state at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

where he is known as one of the best freshman in the schools history before declaring for the NBA Draft. Langford tore a

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

in his thumb in late November at IU, but he played through the pain and didn’t miss a game all year. Langford was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

of the Week four times. He averaged 16.5 points per game, the highest among the Big Ten freshmen and the third highest all-time among Indiana University freshmen, behind

Eric Gordon Eric Ambrose Gordon Jr. (born December 25, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, he was named "Mr. Basketball" of Indiana during his senior yea ...

and

Mike Woodson Michael Dean Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. With coach Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers, Woodson played collegiate ...

. After the season, Langford declared for the 2019 NBA draft, where he was selected by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

with the 14th pick.

Professional career

Boston Celtics (2019–2022)

Langford was selected with the 14th overall draft pick by the

in the 2019 NBA draft. On July 11, 2019, the Celtics announced that they had signed with Langford. Langford was assigned to the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

for the start of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

season. He rolled his ankle in a game against

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The M ...

on November 15. On September 22, 2020, the

announced that Langford had undergone surgery to repair the

scapholunate ligament The scapholunate ligament is a ligament of the wrist. Rupture of the scapholunate ligament causes scapholunate instability, which, if untreated, will eventually cause a predictable pattern of wrist osteoarthritis called scapholunate advanced coll ...

of his right wrist and would miss the remainder of the

2019–20 NBA season The 2019–20 NBA season was the 74th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2019, and originally was supposed to end on April 15, 2020. However, the season was suspended on March 11 as a resul ...

. After his injury-riddled rookie season, Langford made his sophomore debut on April 4, 2021 against the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. He continued to be a semi-constant rotation player for the rest of the season and showed intriguing signs of future potential in the 18 regular season games he played. As injuries continued to plague the Celtics into the 2021 NBA playoffs, Langford took on a larger role in four of the five playoff games for Boston averaging more than 27 minutes per game. With the absences of

Jaylen Brown Jaylen Marselles Brown (born October 24, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the California Golden Bears, being n ...

Kemba Walker Kemba Hudley Walker (born May 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Walker was picked ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft. After gra ...

, and Robert Williams, Langford's expanded playoff opportunity showed glimpses of individual progression, notably in Game 5 against the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

where he dropped a career high 17 points to go along with 2 steals and 2 blocks. He played for the Celtics in the 2021 NBA summer league.

San Antonio Spurs (2022–present)

On February 10, 2022, Langford was traded to the

along with

Josh Richardson Joshua Michael Richardson (born September 15, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers, earning first-tea ...

in exchange for Derrick White.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 32 , , 2 , , 11.6 , , .350 , , .185 , , .720 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 4 , , 15.7 , , .356 , , .278 , , .750 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 44 , , 5 , , 16.5 , , .429 , , .349 , , .588 , , 2.4 , , .4 , , .5 , , .4 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, 4 , , 0 , , 10.8 , , .571 , , .000 , , .375 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 98 , , 11 , , 14.5 , , .400 , , .300 , , .633 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .4 , , .3 , , 3.6

Playoffs

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, 7 , , 0 , , 6.6 , , .400 , , .500 , , .500 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 2 , , 27.3 , , .406 , , .353 , , 1.000 , , 2.5 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .5 , , 9.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 11 , , 2 , , 14.1 , , .405 , , .368 , , .833 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 34.1 , , .448 , , .272 , , .722 , , 5.4 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , .8 , , 16.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 32 , , 32 , , 34.1 , , .448 , , .272 , , .722 , , 5.4 , , 2.3 , , .8 , , .8 , , 16.5

Personal life

In his childhood and early years Romeo grew up in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It is bounded by I-265 t ...

. Romeo is the son of Tim and Sabrina Langford, and has two sisters, Tiffany and Tisha. He began playing basketball in the first grade, and has expressed admiration for NBA player

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

. Romeo has expressed pride in challenging himself academically through advanced classes and enjoyment in taking math, and noted that he desires a college that would allow him to get a good degree in addition to playing basketball. He is a close friend of NFL player

Rondale Moore Rondale DaSean Moore (born June 9, 2000) is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue, and was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the ...

as the two grew up together on the same block in New Albany and played basketball together through their sophomore year of high school. He has a

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...

in a community park named after him in New Albany.

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Romeo 1999 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Maine Red Claws players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Albany High School (Indiana) alumni People from New Albany, Indiana San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards