The growing list of Langston Wilson scholarship offerings reached 35 last week.
It was the evening of August 5 and Wilson’s phone lit up with a text message from Penny Hardaway. The Memphis basketball coach made a simple request: That 6-foot-9 Georgia Highlands College call him ASAP.
Wilson called Hardaway right away.
“We talked, a little bit, I guess what we usually talk about,” the Upper Darby, Pa. Native told The Commercial Appeal. “He was talking about the situation he has in Memphis, how he thinks it would be a good solution for me. It was really that. Not so long as a conversation.
The otherwise routine exchange also included an offer for Wilson, who is not ranked in the 247Sports Composite, to join the Tigers basketball team. Accept one of the five scholarships that are expected to be available for the 2021-2022 season. To bring his mix of athleticism, versatile productivity and team attitude first to Memphis.
It was the 35th bid for Wilson, which is remarkable for someone who never played a minute of high school basketball, someone who only started eight games for Georgia Highlands, someone who worked in construction and as a fishmonger in between. Borderline remarkable for someone who, until March 2019, thought there was only a 10% chance that they would play organized basketball.
Wilson doesn’t like to talk about it. Not the details, at least.
“I don’t really like to go into great detail about this, (but) I had medical issues that I worked with in high school,” he says. “I’ve had to deal with it all my life, sort of, more or less. Not necessarily serious. But I was cleared for this in March (2019). “
After graduating from Bonner and Prendergast Catholic in 2018, when he went through Jake, Wilson went to work. He spent nine months cleaning and cooking fish at the Bywood Seafood Market in Upper Darby before moving with his sister to Atlanta. While working in construction, Wilson joined an open semi-regular race at the Action Sports Academy. Nothing special, he said, just a few random five-on-five friendlies.
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One open race in particular turned out to be special. Gary Graham, president of a Georgia AAU program called Smyrna Stars, was at the gym in June 2019. Graham, who immediately noticed Wilson, grabbed his phone, recorded a 90-second clip and sent it to the trainer by Georgia Highlands JJ Merritt.
(Graham said) “I think if he comes to you he’s a future pro,” Merritt said. “He sent me the clip and I fell in love with it. I called him back and I said, ‘Dude, can you give me his number?’ “
Merritt called Wilson that day, took him out to eat, and showed him around the Georgia Highlands campus.
“He signed with us that day,” Merritt said.
Wilson was enrolled in the starting lineup to start the season. Taking advantage of an unlikely opportunity with performances of 26 and 20 points in two of his first four games, he was on a roll. But something was wrong, and he knew it. After a 3-4 start – and having waited his whole life for a shot – he asked Merritt to give him a reserve.
“The guy behind me was doing great, and I felt better off the bench,” Wilson said. “They understood where I came from. He’s the type of coach who actually listens to his player’s comments. So he kind of rocked with me.
Wilson averaged 10.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for a Chargers team that finished 24-8. He received minimal interest from Division I schools during the season, receiving offers from Iona, Saint Louis, Arkansas-Little Rock, Grambling, Alcorn State and Division II Miles College. But, in April, her phone started ringing.
Alabama. Caroline from the south. Maryland. Murray State. Seton Hall. VCU.
“They just started rolling. It was like back to back to back to back, ”said Wilson, who turns 21 in April. “At one point, I received five offers a day. It was rather ridiculous. Towards the end of June, there was another day where I had Ole Miss, Wichita State and Oregon all in one day.
Last season, Merritt used Wilson primarily as a stretch four. But he believes his player will eventually switch to a long wing.
“Penny and I have talked a few times, and I told her (Langston) is over here now. (But if) he comes to Memphis, “ I can see you for two years instilling a lot of three in him. (Hardaway) agreed on that. I also told Penny that (Langston) had only hit 40% of his potential.
For Wilson, who sees Hardaway and assistant coaches Tony Madlock and Cody Toppert as his co-recruiters, it’s less about positional use at his Division I destination than it is about relationships.
“I don’t want to be told, ‘You come and do what you want,’ said Wilson, whose father, Ron, was a center for Villanova and the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1990s and was a college coach. junior to Bonner and Prendergast Catholic after overcoming four open heart surgeries in 17 days in 2010 because of Marfan syndrome – a genetic condition that affects the connective tissue of the body.
“I want a coach to be real to me. Someone is genuine. And I want to play somewhere with a strong basketball community. I want to be adopted by the community. And I want to embrace the community. I like to do things like go to local colleges to read, things like that. Somehow have an impact. “
Ever since announcing he had an offer from Memphis, Wilson said he noticed the passion for basketball at Bluff City.
“The amount of love on social media from fans and alumni, I already get that feeling from them,” he said.
Wilson is expected to wait until November to focus on a finalist list set at 13 – the number he wears on his jersey, which is also tattooed on his arm.
“He really likes Memphis,” Merritt said. “He talks a lot to one of our former players and a guy who played in Memphis, Kyvon Davenport.”
Contact sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected] or on Twitter @munzly.
