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Romeo Langford


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3 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

You are missing nothing other then his timetable has been pushed back 2 times now and the most heavily invested fan base has absolutely nothing better to do from a basketball standpoint because their team missed the tournament (again).

So all of this can be completely rational and he could be having a hard time making up his mind, he could be looking to avoid distractions, etc. but the cold, hard, and unfair reality is that the longer this plays out, the worse it will be if he goes to Kansas or Vanderbilt.  He has the home crowd buying in right now and that is going to build even more over the next month.  That is a bunch of people being set up for a letdown.

The Langfords said Romeo was going to sign a letter of intent in the Spring.  He can sign an LOI from 4/11/18 through 5/16/18 inclusive.  Although they have talked about possible times he might commit publicly (different than signing LOI), they have never committed to a specific date to make such an announcement. 

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17 minutes ago, slojoe said:

The Langfords said Romeo was going to sign a letter of intent in the Spring.  He can sign an LOI from 4/11/18 through 5/16/18 inclusive.  Although they have talked about possible times he might commit publicly (different than signing LOI), they have never committed to a specific date to make such an announcement. 

That is fine, all I am saying is that at this point if he does not choose Indiana, I think the drawing out of this process will garner a bigger backlash then had they just chose another school from the get go.

So I think that the idea that they may be drawing this out to avoid a backlash would be a huge mistake.

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1 minute ago, IUCrazy2 said:

That is fine, all I am saying is that at this point if he does not choose Indiana, I think the drawing out of this process will garner a bigger backlash then had they just chose another school from the get go.

So I think that the idea that they may be drawing this out to avoid a backlash would be a huge mistake.

This is exactly where I'm at. The backlash will be bigger by drawing it out until after the season. 

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I don't know where RL will decide.  He seems to be a fine young man from all accounts. I would love for him don the Candy Stripes.  However, he has to make the decision that he deems best for him.  If that does not involve IU, I wish him well.  I will then lose all interest in him just like I did with Kris Wilkes  and others who have left Indiana and turn my attention back to our team and the fine young men who represent and play for us.  RL's decision will not make or break IUBB or my interest in supporting it.  I find this discussion of "backlash" unsettling and quite immature.  It is a game after all!  His decision is none of our business unless he attends IU.  Then I'll cheer him on because he has become one of us. Go IU!

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10 minutes ago, IUCrazy2 said:

That is fine, all I am saying is that at this point if he does not choose Indiana, I think the drawing out of this process will garner a bigger backlash then had they just chose another school from the get go.

So I think that the idea that they may be drawing this out to avoid a backlash would be a huge mistake.

But he's not drawing it out.  The Langfords said they were going to wait until the spring signing period which is 4/11/18 through 5/16/18 inclusive.  A recruit can only sign an LOI during a signing period, and the LOI is binding on the recruit and the school.   A recruit can verbally state that he intends to attend a particular university, but this "verbal commitment" is not binding and not even in the NCAA rules and regulations.  Some recruits make a verbal commitment before a signing period and then sign an LOI at the next period.  Although the Langfords have suggested times when he might make a VC such as at the McDonald's All-Star game on 3/31, they have never said he would verbal on a specific date.  They now have said that he will announce his decision some time from 4/13 to 4/30 which is during the spring signing period.  That means there is no need for a verbal, and they will just sign an LOI.  In other words they are doing just what they said which was to sign in the spring.  This is hardly unusual.

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38 minutes ago, CapnRon said:

I don't understand why there would be backlash, especially if he is done with his season.  People will be disappointed and move on.  It's just a game.

I guess backlash is a subjective term.  For me, I will nothing him, forever.  Other than that, he will probably have some people cursing his name on forums like this for awhile.  Kris Wilkes was barely a blip when he went to UCLA.  That is what I mean.  The longer this takes, the more emotional investment people build up in seeing him at IU.  This thread is up to 54 pages, it is 8 or 9 without this build up.  He would be basically a nothing, just another in a long line of misses.

That is kind of how I treat all of these things.  Literally the only interest I have in Romeo Langford is Indiana University.  If he did not still have a stated interest in Indiana, I would hold zero interest in the kid.  I think the majority of fans are that way.  The last kid to make a run at Bailey's record was from Ft. Wayne and ended up at Ohio State, cannot even remember his name.

I do not see him being harrassed or anything, he just becomes a nothing. I think it is more like Damon told him, if he goes elsewhere he might as well stay because he will not have any built up love outside of New Albany in this state.

I also hope none of this matters and he ends up at IU.

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25 minutes ago, CapnRon said:

I don't understand why there would be backlash, especially if he is done with his season.  People will be disappointed and move on.  It's just a game.

There is some truth to that, however, us old timers lived and witnessed IU in it's prime. IU was so good in the 70's and 80's, that it was actually somewhat boring watching some games because they won so much. I am not saying it was not enjoyable, IU just beat teams they were supposed to beat and were always in games with top talent or just flat out won. We did not just move on. I know that is what we are supposed do, but I want that feeling again like we all felt in the 70's and 80"s. When a play or players come along that could potentially bring some of that back, we become obsessed, or at least most of us do.

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41 minutes ago, FWIUFan said:

I don't know where RL will decide.  He seems to be a fine young man from all accounts. I would love for him don the Candy Stripes.  However, he has to make the decision that he deems best for him.  If that does not involve IU, I wish him well.  I will then lose all interest in him just like I did with Kris Wilkes  and others who have left Indiana and turn my attention back to our team and the fine young men who represent and play for us.  RL's decision will not make or break IUBB or my interest in supporting it.  I find this discussion of "backlash" unsettling and quite immature.  It is a game after all!  His decision is none of our business unless he attends IU.  Then I'll cheer him on because he has become one of us. Go IU!

Immature was the word that kept coming back to me when I read the threat of "backlash" over a non-IU decision.  I'm guessing any "backlash" would be on the level of what Kris Wilkes got...mostly disinterest mixed in with some "how's that Alford/UCLA decision working out for you" taunts.  If that's the extent of the backlash, fine.  If, however, backlash meant threats and openly vulgar hostility toward the family, I HOPE IU fans are above that. It would be a genuine disappointment/embarrassment if part of the fanbase went beyond a few verbal jabs.  That would put us on the level of UK fans and I personally have no desire to go there.

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3 hours ago, CrimsonV said:

Rakestraw sounds like your typical Butler fan - using any possible negative to chip away at big brother.  I’m not buying it.

I wouldn't say he is a Butler fan and he did IUPUI basketball for years so he has no real affilitation with Butler at all.

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19 minutes ago, FKIM01 said:

Immature was the word that kept coming back to me when I read the threat of "backlash" over a non-IU decision.  I'm guessing any "backlash" would be on the level of what Kris Wilkes got...mostly disinterest mixed in with some "how's that Alford/UCLA decision working out for you" taunts.  If that's the extent of the backlash, fine.  If, however, backlash meant threats and openly vulgar hostility toward the family, I HOPE IU fans are above that. It would be a genuine disappointment/embarrassment if part of the fanbase went beyond a few verbal jabs.  That would put us on the level of UK fans and I personally have no desire to go there.

Exactly.  For me, if he goes elsewhere, I just wont really cheer for him.  That's it.  Backlash is silly. The garland loss was irratating because he played it off like iu was never really in it, to sway romeo I'm guessing.  That was classless in my opinion, and I'm still not going to harrass the kid on social media, or if I'm ever at a game he is playing in because it's not that serious.  These are young guys making tough decisions.

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5 minutes ago, CapnRon said:

Exactly.  For me, if he goes elsewhere, I just wont really cheer for him.  That's it.  Backlash is silly. The garland loss was irratating because he played it off like iu was never really in it, to sway romeo I'm guessing.  That was classless in my opinion, and I'm still not going to harrass the kid on social media, or if I'm ever at a game he is playing in because it's not that serious.  These are young guys making tough decisions.

What I heard about the Garland family is that they essentially punked Rabjohns by encouraging him to drive to Nashville for the announcement, leading him to believe that IU was the choice, only to tell the news media after the decision that IU was a distant 3rd.  If all of that is true (and I'm leaving out a few details that don't change the essence of the story), that's the essence of immaturity and a real lack of class on their part.  To feel the need to go beyond rejecting a school to actually insulting a school and their fanbase and inconveniencing a school beat writer is just a lowbrow move. After a display like that, I'm not at all upset to not have that young man represent IU.  It's one thing to pretend to grab one hat and then grab another.  It's an entirely different matter to do what the Garland family did.  Even then, I would expect any backlash to be devoid of actual threats and hostile vulgarities because after all, it's still just a game.

Garland probably wouldn't even be still discussed if he wasn't on the other end of an active recruiting battle.

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1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

I wouldn't say he is a Butler fan and he did IUPUI basketball for years so he has no real affilitation with Butler at all.

I never said he was a fan hence the terminology “sounds like”.  His tone rings true with many Butler fans.

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I should clarify my post from last night. I don't think Langford or his family are doing anything intentionally to upset a fan base or anything. My intention wasn't to suggest that he's known for months and just hasn't committed because of backlash or anything. I've been staunchly against the backlash theory the entire time. 

I more just meant that I don't understand how he can't possibly at least have a strong favorite in his mind. I just think he has to know where we wants to go, even if the ultimate/final decision hasn't been made yet. Other than learning more about Archie and the IU staff and getting to know them better, what more could you possible need to know about each school? That's all I meant.

To those citing other kids that have waited. Yes, I know lots of kids wait until Spring. But typically in those cases the kids haven't made their final list in the Fall and already taken all of their official visits. They usually take their officials during the season and still have some list trimming to do after the Fall signing period. 

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31 minutes ago, cohete15 said:

Oh good, we're talking about fan backlash again... 

We have moved into whether or not trying to avoid backlash by waiting this long to announce (sticking to their plan) would actually create more backlash than if they had taken the chance and dealt with the initial backlash by announcing earlier. We are now debating which choice would garner the highest level of backlash and it doesn't appear to be a linear relationship. 

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31 minutes ago, Jacarcio said:

I heard Donovan is the word and that Darius Garland is the lynch pin in getting RL. 

Hmmm....I always thought that it was Calhoun's health that was the word.

:coffee:

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1 hour ago, BGleas said:

I should clarify my post from last night. I don't think Langford or his family are doing anything intentionally to upset a fan base or anything. My intention wasn't to suggest that he's known for months and just hasn't committed because of backlash or anything. I've been staunchly against the backlash theory the entire time. 

I more just meant that I don't understand how he can't possibly at least have a strong favorite in his mind. I just think he has to know where we wants to go, even if the ultimate/final decision hasn't been made yet. Other than learning more about Archie and the IU staff and getting to know them better, what more could you possible need to know about each school? That's all I meant.

To those citing other kids that have waited. Yes, I know lots of kids wait until Spring. But typically in those cases the kids haven't made their final list in the Fall and already taken all of their official visits. They usually take their officials during the season and still have some list trimming to do after the Fall signing period. 

This.

I don't think it is being done for fear of backlash either (because of what I mentioned, it would be an incredibly stupid way to try and mitigate that).

No inside knowledge but my guess is this:  Romeo has expressed he would like to go somewhere and his parents think he should be going somewhere else.  Based on how this is winding up, I think that Indiana is at least one of the somewhere else the parents are pushing.

I think that Romeo's choice is either A)Kansas and the parents are pushing him to look at the closer options in Vanderbilt and IU (If Romeo has expressed he wants to go to Kansas, there is no need to go back and visit.) Or B)Kansas has kind of been ruled out, so no further visits needed.  Vanderbilt is Romeo's choice but parents prefer Indiana so want him to go and kick the tires again before he makes his decision.

So basically I think that whatever direction Romeo is leaning right now is not what his parents think is in his best interests so they are making him wait until they can best make their case to change his mind(like maybe Garland is cool but playing with him for one year is not necessarily what is good for you).  I think that since Indiana is getting that last visit that we are probably the top choice of Mom and Dad but we are probably not Romeo's top choice....yet.

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2 hours ago, FKIM01 said:

What I heard about the Garland family is that they essentially punked Rabjohns by encouraging him to drive to Nashville for the announcement, leading him to believe that IU was the choice, only to tell the news media after the decision that IU was a distant 3rd.  If all of that is true (and I'm leaving out a few details that don't change the essence of the story), that's the essence of immaturity and a real lack of class on their part.  To feel the need to go beyond rejecting a school to actually insulting a school and their fanbase and inconveniencing a school beat writer is just a lowbrow move. After a display like that, I'm not at all upset to not have that young man represent IU.  It's one thing to pretend to grab one hat and then grab another.  It's an entirely different matter to do what the Garland family did.  Even then, I would expect any backlash to be devoid of actual threats and hostile vulgarities because after all, it's still just a game.

Garland probably wouldn't even be still discussed if he wasn't on the other end of an active recruiting battle.

This is what has caused that bitterness and why so many fans are emotionally vested in this recruitment. No mistake RL can be a difference maker for IU.

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