Memphis recruit ‘has only scratched 40% of his potential’
Langston Wilson's growing list of scholarship offers reached 35 last week.
It was the evening of Aug. 5, and Wilson's phone lit up with a text message from Penny Hardaway. The Memphis basketball coach made a simple request: that the 6-foot-9 Georgia Highlands College stretch four call him at his earliest convenience.
Wilson called Hardaway right away. “We talked about, kinda, I guess what we usually talk about,” the Upper Darby, Pa., native told The Commercial Appeal. “He was talking about the situation he has at Memphis, how he feels it would be a good fit for me. Really that was it. Not all that long of a conversation.”
The otherwise routine exchange also included an offer for Wilson, who is unranked in the 247Sports Composite, to join the Tigers basketball team. To accept one of the five scholarships expected to be available for the 2021-22 season. To bring his blend of athleticism, versatile productivity and team-first attitude to Memphis.
It was the 35th offer for Wilson, which is borderline remarkable for someone who never played a minute of high school basketball, someone who started just 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 he ever would play organized basketball.
Wilson doesn't like to talk about it. Not the specifics, at least.
“I don't really like getting into detail about it, (but) I had some medical things I was dealing with in high school,” he said. “I had to deal with it my whole life, kind of, more or less. Not necessarily serious. But I got cleared for it in March (2019).”
After graduating from Bonner and Prendergast Catholic in 2018, when he went by Jake, Wilson went to work. He spent nine months cleaning and cooking fish at Bywood Seafood Market in Upper Darby before moving in with his sister in Atlanta.
While working construction, Wilson joined a semi regular open run at Action Sports Academy. Nothing special, he said, just a few random games of friendly five-on-five.
One particular open run turned out to be special. Gary Graham, president of a Georgia AAU program called Smyrna Stars, was in the gym in June 2019. Graham, who noticed Wilson immediately, grabbed his phone, recorded a 90-second clip and sent it to Georgia Highlands coach J.J. 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 said, ‘Man, 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 penciled into the starting lineup to start the season. Making the most of an unlikely opportunity with 26- and 20-point performances in two of his first four games, he was on a roll. But something wasn't right, and he knew it. After a 3-4 start – and after waiting his whole life for a shot – he asked Merritt to make him a reserve.
“The guy behind me was doing really well, and I felt better coming off the bench,” Wilson said. “They understood where I was coming from. He's the type of coach that actually listens to his player's input. So, he kind of rocked with me.”
Wilson went on to average 10.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks a game for a Chargers team that finished 24-8.
He received minimal interest from Division I schools during the season, fielding offers from Iona, Saint Louis, Arkansas-little Rock, Grambling, Alcorn State and Division II Miles College. But, in April his phone started ringing off the hook.
Alabama. South Carolina. Maryland. Murray State. Seton Hall. VCU.
“They just started rolling. It was like back-to-back-to-back-to-back,” said Wilson, who will turn 21 in April. “At one point, I got like five offers in a day. It was kind of ridiculous. Toward the end of June, there was another day where I got 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 eventually will transition to a long wing.
“Me and Penny have talked a couple times, and I've told him (Langston) is this way now. (But if ) he comes to Memphis, ‘I can see you over two years instilling a lot of three in him.' (Hardaway) agreed on that. I also told Penny that (Langston) has only scratched 40% of his potential.”
For Wilson, who views Hardaway and assistant coaches Tony Madlock and Cody Toppert as his co-recruiters, it's less about positional usage at his Division I destination and more about relationships.
“I'm not looking to be told, ‘You'll come in and do whatever you want,'” said Wilson, whose father, Ron, was a center for Villanova and the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1990s and who coached junior varsity at Bonner and Prendergast Catholic after overcoming four open-heart surgeries in 17 days in 2010 because of Marfan syndrome – a genetic disorder that affects the body's connective tissue.
“I want a coach to be real with me. Someone being genuine. And I want to play somewhere with a strong basketball community. I want to be embraced by the community. And I want to embrace the community. I like doing things like going to read at local middle schools, things like that. Kind of having an impact.”
Since announcing he had an offer from Memphis, Wilson said he has noticed the passion for basketball in the Bluff City.
“The amount of love on social media from fans and alumni, I kind of already get that feel from them,” he said.
Wilson is expected to wait until November to narrow his focus, likely to a list of finalists set at 13 – the number he wears on his jersey, which is also tattooed on his arm.
“He likes Memphis a lot,” Merritt said. “He talks to one of our former players and a guy that played at Memphis, Kyvon Davenport, a lot.”
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.