Kansas Jayhawks Basketball: Romeo Langford’s situation is similar to Trae Young

With time running out for Romeo Langford to make his decision, flashbacks of Trae Young’s decision come to mind. The Kansas Jayhawks patiently wait.

Three schools are in the running to land Romeo Langford, the No. 2 shooting guard in the country and No. 6 player overall according to rivals.com. Other sources have him ranked higher, but you get the point. This guy is special. His decision will come sometime this month, when he chooses either Indiana, Vanderbilt, or the Kansas Jayhawks.

Langford is the likely choice to become Indiana’s Mr. Basketball for 2018, where he averaged 35.5 points at New Albany High School. This situation is very similar to that of Trae Young. Young’s senior year he averaged 42.8 points per game for Norman North in Oklahoma. He waited as long as possible to make his decision as well, before choosing to be the man rather than part of a team at Oklahoma University.

More from KC Kingdom

• Win $650 GUARANTEED Plus $100 Off NFL Sunday Ticket With Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings Kansas Promos!
• This Plus-Money Bobby Witt Jr. Prop Bet is on Fire (Hit in 15/21 Games)!
• How to Bet on the Chiefs vs. Cardinals in NFL Preseason Week 2
• The Royals Need to Extend Bobby Witt Jr. Immediately
• The 3 Most Intriguing Games on the Chiefs’ Schedule

Hindsight may be 20/20, but Young may have made a wrong decision. His stock actually went down as his freshman year went on. He took the college basketball world by storm, becoming ESPN’s adopted love-child as he lit up the scoreboards. As soon as teams figured out that his teammates couldn’t pick up the slack, the Sooners started to fall.

Young was on an island all by himself. His team was no good, and unfairly, he was blamed by many in the media. Romeo Langford won’t be the hated player that Young was, but their paths are the same.

If Langford wants to be the man and pad his stats, Indiana will likely be his destination. Like Young, where better to be the man than right where you live. He has a better chance of being noticed at Vanderbilt, as he will be playing on a better team facing teams like Kentucky and Louisville throughout the season.

Now, if Langford wants to be seen there is only one school to choose. Kansas. The Jayhawks are playing on national television every week. The consecutive conference title streak will grab attention as long as the streak continues. Plus, Kansas is favored to be the preseason No.1 team next season by practically every source. Even with the recent departures.

Langford won’t be averaging 35.5 points at Kansas. Had Young chosen the Jayhawks rather than the Sooners, he wouldn’t have averaged the numbers he did either. That just doesn’t happen when you are surrounded by other talented scorers in college.

Speculation on where Langford will play has gone on for months, especially since he narrowed his teams down to three. The fear coming from Kansas fans relates directly back to Trae Young. Bill Self is known for letting his guards play freely, which is a common reason for the recent success he has had at that position. Playing at home prevailed with Trae Young.

On paper, if Langford joins Kansas, the backcourt may be one of the most dangerous backcourts in history. There is definitely reason to get excited about Romeo’s decision here. The Jayhawks may have benefitted from him taking his time since Malik Newman and Lagerald Vick both announced they were leaving.

Next: Top one and done players at Kansas

Time didn’t help with the Trae Young sweepstakes, but Langford is a different player with a different maturity level. Even if I was unbiased, and I had the chance, I would tell this young man to go to Kansas.