Top-five prospect Romeo Langford, the nation's top unsigned senior, decided to stay in his home state for college and committed to Indiana on Monday night.
Langford announced his decision in front of more than 4,000 people during a ceremony at his high school, choosing the Hoosiers over Kansas and Vanderbilt.
Langford, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from New Albany High School (Indiana), is ranked No. 5 in the ESPN 100 for the 2018 class. He's the No. 1 shooting guard in the country, and earned McDonald's All American honors this spring. Langford was named Indiana Mr. Basketball over the weekend after averaging 35.5 points as a senior.
Top-five hoops prospect Romeo Langford is going to Indiana.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 1, 2018
Hoosier fans, here's a preview: pic.twitter.com/9Irpi43VTw
Langford took official visits to all three schools in the fall but let the early signing period end without making a decision. At various points during the winter, each of Langford's three finalists was considered to be the favorite. However, all signs over the past few weeks have pointed to Indiana.
Archie Miller made Langford his clear priority from the day he took over in Bloomington last spring. At the time, several other high-caliber programs were involved in the chase, including North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky and Louisville. Miller tracked him throughout last summer, despite the popular opinion pegging Langford as a Louisville lean. The longer Langford's recruitment went, the better it seemed for Indiana -- as Miller was no longer playing catch-up to schools and coaches that had been recruiting Langford longer.
The state of Indiana made no secret of where it wanted Langford to play his college basketball. His high school games were jam-packed with Indiana fans, with long lines waiting for him postgame for autographs.
On decision day, the pull to stay home for college was too much to pass up.
Keeping Langford in-state for college is a huge early coup for Miller, especially after Indiana missed on all four ESPN 100 prospects from the state in the 2017 class. In fact, Langford's commitment to Indiana is the first time since 2007, when Eric Gordon stayed home, that the Hoosiers have landed the top-ranked player from the state. During Tom Crean's nine years at Indiana, the Hoosiers landed just five of the 35 ESPN 100 players from the state.
Langford is the first five-star prospect headed to Indiana since James Blackmon Jr. in 2014 and the highest-ranked recruit since Gordon, who was ranked No. 2 in 2007.
Langford joins a recruiting class that was ranked in the top 30 entering the week. Miller had already landed four four-star prospects in 2018, led by ESPN 100 small forward Jerome Hunter. Point guard Robert Phinisee, small forward Damezi Anderson and power forward Jake Forrester round out the five-man group.
With Langford in the fold, expectations will rise for Indiana in Miller's second season at the helm. The Hoosiers lose guards Robert Johnson and Josh Newkirk, as well as rotation players Collin Hartman and Freddie McSwain Jr., from a team that won 16 games and finished tied for sixth place in the Big Ten. But Miller has upgraded the overall talent with the incoming recruiting class, and now has an All-American candidate and potential lottery pick in Langford to lead the way.