Draft Position

[rico]

19 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Bird might have only played 3 years but he was out of high school 4 or 5 years 

Yep, Bird is a unique one.  He was draft eligible in '78.  Played his senior season, but the C's took him in '78.

[IU Scott]

1 hour ago, NotIThatLives said:

I'm not arguing I was just fact-checking and actually bird and Olajuwon both played 3 years.

I just quickly looked at Fox Sports top 25 of all time.  

Just looked up Hakeem he was actually in college 4 years but ineligible his freshman year

[Zlinedavid]

If you were a high school senior in the early 80s and your sole aspiration was to play pro basketball, you HAD to play a few years in college,regardless if the education meant anything to you or not. Why? Partially, Because the NBA had no idea who you were.

High School Romeo Langford in 1981 isn't known by NBA teams (maybe the Pacers, only from local coverage). Today, NBA teams knew who he was as a sophomore in high school. Maybe not in depth, but a GM worth his salt knew the name. Recruiting is a fully covered area all year long,almost a sport unto itself. There's umpteen ways to get video of yourself out there. Kids don't need the exposure that college brings.

Why play more than one year? Because there was one or two guys at your position just as talented looking to do the same as you.

[dgambill]

Look...to each their own. I understand both situations. The faster you get that money the faster you can set your family for life...even a late first could live off their earnings if well invested. Who knows you could have a career altering injury...best to have it happen with a few million in the bank then zero. That said guys like Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck could have come out early but stayed to try to win a championship and finish their college experience in a much riskier sport. I don’t begrudge anyone either way...that said IU isn’t even making the tourney...hard to sell someone like Romeo to come back and try to win...heck it might not even been that enjoyable season for him. Good luck in achieving your dreams...some it is college championship...others it’s NBA.

[Hoosierhoopster]

Updated story on draft projections, by Givony and Schmitz -- Have Romeo at #11, with a range of #8-15, pretty good write up:

 

11. Romeo Langford | F | Indiana | Age: 19.5

 

Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire

The fourth all-time leading scorer in Indiana history, Langford stayed home to play at tiny New Albany high school before committing to Indiana. He was a USA Basketball staple who was a consensus top-six recruit. Langford started off his freshman season in impressive fashion but was slowed by a torn ligament in the thumb of his shooting hand in late November. He elected to play through it, which likely prevented scouts from seeing the full extent of his potential.

 

Langford was still named second-team all-conference and a member of the Big Ten's all-freshman team, but he wasn't able to guide Indiana to the NCAA tournament. -- Givony

Strengths

• Has prototypical physical tools for an NBA wing at over 6-foot-6 in shoes, with a strong frame and a 6-11 wingspan.

• Smooth and fluid athlete who is at his best with the ball in his hands and shows significant potential pushing ahead in transition and operating out of pick-and-roll. Has strong footwork and body control. Changes speeds naturally with the ball. Good vision and creativity finding teammates. Offensive instincts and overall upside suggests he can develop into a player capable of shouldering a significant load as a shot-creator, which is difficult to find in this draft class, especially at his size.

• Shows enough flashes as a defender, passer, rebounder, finisher and shot-maker to leave plenty of room for optimism regarding how his game will continue to round out over time. Has both a relatively high ceiling and floor.

Improvement areas

• Shot only 27 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman, partially due to the hand injury but wasn't known as a great shooter coming into college. Could stand to tweak his mechanics and release point. Had very little shooting around him at Indiana, which made it easy for opposing defenses to load up on him as the season moved on.

• Faced a significant learning curve on the defensive end in college. Has significant potential on that end with his length, quickness and solid instincts, but will have to improve his intensity level, particularly off the ball. Has a casual demeanor that works against him at times.

• Uneven, injury-plagued freshman season left scouts with more questions than answers.

Projected role: Big playmaker

Physical Comps

PLAYER	AGE	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	WINGSPAN
Romeo Langford	18.5	6-6½	202	6-11
Bogdan Bogdanovic	17.8	6-6¼	200	6-11
Andre Roberson	21.6	6-7	206	6-11
Dwyane Wade	21.4	6-4¾	212	6-10¾

Range: Nos 8-15

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/26669678/scouting-nba-draft-lottery-prospects-strengths-comps-intel

[IUskim]

1 hour ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

Updated story on draft projections, by Givony and Schmitz -- Have Romeo at #11, with a range of #8-15, pretty good write up:

 

11. Romeo Langford | F | Indiana | Age: 19.5

 

Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire

The fourth all-time leading scorer in Indiana history, Langford stayed home to play at tiny New Albany high school before committing to Indiana. He was a USA Basketball staple who was a consensus top-six recruit. Langford started off his freshman season in impressive fashion but was slowed by a torn ligament in the thumb of his shooting hand in late November. He elected to play through it, which likely prevented scouts from seeing the full extent of his potential.

 

Langford was still named second-team all-conference and a member of the Big Ten's all-freshman team, but he wasn't able to guide Indiana to the NCAA tournament. -- Givony

Strengths

• Has prototypical physical tools for an NBA wing at over 6-foot-6 in shoes, with a strong frame and a 6-11 wingspan.

• Smooth and fluid athlete who is at his best with the ball in his hands and shows significant potential pushing ahead in transition and operating out of pick-and-roll. Has strong footwork and body control. Changes speeds naturally with the ball. Good vision and creativity finding teammates. Offensive instincts and overall upside suggests he can develop into a player capable of shouldering a significant load as a shot-creator, which is difficult to find in this draft class, especially at his size.

• Shows enough flashes as a defender, passer, rebounder, finisher and shot-maker to leave plenty of room for optimism regarding how his game will continue to round out over time. Has both a relatively high ceiling and floor.

Improvement areas

• Shot only 27 percent from beyond the arc as a freshman, partially due to the hand injury but wasn't known as a great shooter coming into college. Could stand to tweak his mechanics and release point. Had very little shooting around him at Indiana, which made it easy for opposing defenses to load up on him as the season moved on.

• Faced a significant learning curve on the defensive end in college. Has significant potential on that end with his length, quickness and solid instincts, but will have to improve his intensity level, particularly off the ball. Has a casual demeanor that works against him at times.

• Uneven, injury-plagued freshman season left scouts with more questions than answers.

Projected role: Big playmaker

Physical Comps

PLAYER	AGE	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	WINGSPAN
Romeo Langford	18.5	6-6½	202	6-11
Bogdan Bogdanovic	17.8	6-6¼	200	6-11
Andre Roberson	21.6	6-7	206	6-11
Dwyane Wade	21.4	6-4¾	212	6-10¾

Range: Nos 8-15

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/26669678/scouting-nba-draft-lottery-prospects-strengths-comps-intel

I saw this earlier and thought this was probably the most accurate scout of him all year. 

[BobSaccamanno]

I am not super impressed with this draft.  Romeo is not a sure bet, but I'd take him a lot higher than 11, let alone above the nonsensical ideas of taking him at 20 or whatever that you see in some drafts.

With his ability to move his feet, his strength, and his wingspan, he has the ability to defend at a high level if he gets top coaching.  That's a big limiting factor for many college players, and that's a plus for Romeo.

If he works on his burst to the left, he has a chance to be a solid on the drive.  Personally, I would have let him create more last season.  I think he has it in him.  

Regarding his maligned shot, I think he can be a good shooter.  I mentioned this before, but he took a last second shot at the end of the first half, I think against Purdue at home.  If anyone has that on video, it was a clinic on ideal form and flow.  He convinced me on his shot.  He just needs to be healthy and just keep working on it.

Plus, and I know I am a broken record, but we have seen how a lot of his peers behave.  And this is a kid who picked IU, took on the pressure of being the golden boy, stayed late and signed autographs for kids, etc.  

If he puts it together like I think he can, his value will be a lot higher than eleventh.  And if he doesn't, well after about three guys, you probably didn't miss much anyway.