With over 2,000 teams and countless players in Las Vegas for the third NCAA live period, it hasn't been easy to find a signature performance from one of the nation's elite players. They have been few and far between, especially with some of the nation's elite playing for Team USA at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Chile, but after 48 hours of action we finally came upon one from last year's National Sophomore of the Year at Cashman Center during the adidas Summer Championships.
That player is Class of 2018 standout Romeo Langford, who made clutch plays and effortlessly scored to lead his EG10 club to a 79-75 victory over Just Win Academy. Langford, who attends New Albany (Ind.) High School, gave his team the lead for good when he converted a lay-up with 46 seconds remaining in the game. Langford makes things look easy offensively and is usually reserved on the court, but after that play he let his emotions shine through to the delight of his teammates. Langford also hit two big free throws with 25 seconds remaining and also hauled in a rebound as time expired.
The 6-foot-6 shooting guard who already fields offers from college basketball heavyweights such as Duke, Kentucky and Kansas dominated from start to finish. Langford scored 10 points in the first five minutes, had 25 points by halftime and finished with an even "40 piece". He made 12-of-19 field goals, including five 3-pointers, 11-of-13 free throws en route to his 40 points and added eight rebounds.
Championship bracket play began in the three major tournaments (the Las Vegas Classic at Spring Valley High School and the Las Vegas Fab 48 at Bishop Gorman High School being the other two), so we expect the play to pick up in the win-or-go-home situations. We'll have a recap and some raw footage of the major division 17U championships from all three tournaments on Sunday night. Stay tuned!