At New Albany High School on January 14th, New Albany and Madison faced off in a boys high school basketball game. There was a lot of buzz around Madison for a game where MCHS was predicted to lose big. That was largely due to the presence of one particular person: Romeo Langford. Langford, a junior at New Albany High School, is a D-1 caliber athlete and basketball player, and he has many schools interested in him including Kentucky, Indiana, and Kansas. Standing on most recruiting boards as the second ranked prospect in the country, Langford can make it into any college he wants.

That night against the Cubs, the 6’6” slasher went for a season high 43 points. The surrounding crowd was astonished by all the plays he was pulling off. From the half court buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter to the alley oop dunks, the junior put on a show for both New Albany and Madison fans, alike.

Most high school basketball games that Romeo plays in are sold out. As I arrived to the school, the nearest parking spot was not close. The whole parking lot was full as people jammed into the school. As I walked into the school, I noticed how nice of a school it is compared to most others. As soon as you walk into the gym, you can notice all of the fans standing around watching the 17-year old junior warm up. As the team shot around, even when Romeo rarely missed, his teammates made sure he always had a ball in his hands during warm ups.

As the game went on, Romeo continued to play very well like everyone expected. Towards the end of the game, with the Bulldogs leading 103 to 50 with two minutes left, nobody got up because everyone loved watching Langford hoop it up. As the game ended, everyone tried to flee the parking lot but there was too much traffic to drive the speed limit.  

This young athlete is a big draw for New Albany athletics. The Bulldogs had double or maybe even triple the amount of people at their basketball game than they might have had without Langford on the floor. This one player for New Albany generates a lot more money for their athletic department than many high schools’ entire athletics roster.

This kind of player does not come around very often. You might see scenes like this in southern Indiana every 20 years or so. Damon Bailey might be the last time we’ve witnessed anything like this, and it might be some time before we see it again. To see someone of this caliber play is an amazing thing. Enjoy it while you can.