Indiana Freshman Romeo Langford Impresses in Debut

All-American former Mr. Basketball freshman Romeo Langford made his highly anticipated debut for the Indiana Hoosiers Tuesday night in Bloomington.

Romeo Langford proved to be as advertised, as the freshman guard from New Albany shined in his Indiana University debut.

Head coach Archie Miller had his freshman sensation start the game for the Hoosiers. Langford scored 19 points in his first game at Assembly Hall as the Hoosiers defeated the Chicago State Cougars in a 104-55 rout. After his first bucket in the NCAA, which was a beauty of a shot, the Hoosier native scored the next nine points for Indiana. Langford found room in the paint as he ran right by his Chicago State defenders on multiple occasions, leading to a 17 point first half.

That first half was just a glimpse of how impressive and truly how talented Romeo Langford will be for Indiana.

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His second half was less impressive as his first, only tallying 2 points, while going 0-3 from the field in limited action. Langford also left 6 points off the board, as he struggled at the free throw line, only going 5-11. He was impressive, but not perfect – which is expected of a freshman in his first game.

Hoosier faithful should be very optimistic though. The former 5-star recruit played both unselfish and aggressive, as he found open teammates to garner three first half assists. Langford attracted a ton of attention from the Chicago State defense, leaving some Hoosier teammates open. Langford noticed it and made sure to get the ball in his teammates’ hands. But when given the opportunity, the 6’6 guard diced through the defense and scored in the paint.

I believe there are a lot of expectations and a ton of pressure on Langford to fill the stat sheets every game, but a player of his caliber does not need to stuff the stat sheets. As long as he is drawing attention from the defense, someone else will be open. That is what is so nice about having a big-time player like Langford.

There is no doubt Romeo Langford will be an integral player for the Indiana Hoosiers this season, and if he performs like he is capable of, there is a good chance this will be his only season in Bloomington. Hoosier fans should embrace Langford while they can, and hope for a deep tournament run this season, because a player like him will not be around forever – or more than a year.