Little Langford Brother Has Top 5

Sure, he's Keith's little brother. But Kevin Langford, a lanky 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward from Fort Worth (TX) North Crowley HS is making a name for himself on the AAU circuit with Team Texas. And a number of major conference schools are paying attention.

Unlike his star brother, who will be entering his junior year at Kansas, Kevin does his damage in the lane. An agile big man, the younger Langford projects as a power forward at the next level and already has a variety of post moves to go along with soft mid-range shot. While he's lanky, he's not painfully thin, although he could stand to build more strength.

Langford heard from a ton of schools in the last contact period, and several head coaches paid him a visit on school grounds. However, he has whittled down his list and has a Top Five. They are, in no particular order: Stanford, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Kansas, and Auburn. Virginia and Auburn have offered. Stanford hosted Langford on an official visit in early May. The rest of his official visits, however, will have to wait until after he's finished with the AAU circuit.

"He's going to play out the rest of the summer," said North Crowley head coach Tommy Brakel. "At the end of the summer, we'll get together and go over his current list of five schools and go from there which ones he'll visit."

An interesting school on Langford's list is obviously Kansas. Roy Williams recruited Langford before he left, and Bill Self - who had been recruiting Langford for Illinois - picked up right where Williams left off. With some kids, playing with an older brother may or may not be desired. What's Kevin's situation?

"Last year if you asked me, I would have told you that Kevin wanted to be his own Langford and was leaning away from Kansas," said Brakel. But obviously that's no longer the case with Langford as Kansas remains in his top five. "Lately I feel like Kevin has a quiet sense of confidence that he feels wherever he goes he'll be successful."

Another thing that Langford cares about is being a part of a winning program, at least by the time he is finished with college. According to Brakel, Langford is very aware of what recruiting classes schools are assembling, not just in his class, but the years before and after as well. Being a part of a talented group will be an important factor in his eventual decision.

As a junior, Langford averaged 17.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game, shooting 56.2 percent from the field and 77.7 percent from the line. Langford is a 4.0 student and has reportedly never received a grade other than an A.

Be sure to stay tuned where this developing power forward chooses to pursue his college education.

Jed Tai is a Senior Writer with Hoopville.com