Family affair for UConn targets Langford, Diarra

PUTNAM — Putnam Science Academy coach Tom Espinosa can answer any questions about Demarr Langford’s basketball evolution. But if you really need the long-term scouting report, it’s best to look for his wife, Trish.

“My mom said Trish was a great player and great friend,” Langford said. “She used to baby-sit me and Makai.”

There will no shortage of family connections in this story, a basketball story that could end again in Storrs, so it’s probably best to start nearly two decades ago just north of the Connecticut border. Sacha Ashton and Trish Cushing were outstanding teammates on the Worcester State women’s team. Demarr Langford Sr. and Espinosa were outstanding teammates on the Lancers men’s team.

Obviously, there are challenges to having children at a young age, but there can be benefits. You can look across the gym and find a babysitter for the night.

“My dad played with Coach Espo, too, and had a good relationship with him,” Langford said. “That was a big thing in my coming to Putnam.”

While the families’ rela

tionship helped place Demarr in the state’s Quiet Corner, it is his loud, explosive athletic talent that will push the composite top-80 2020 recruit to one of the top college basketball schools in the nation.

UConn is hot on his tracks. Langford, nearly 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds at age 17, is currently weighing his options: Commit to college in 2019 or do a post-graduate year, whether that is at PSA or somewhere else, and enter in 2020. His brother Makai Ashton-Langford decommitted from UConn in 2017 out of Brewster Academy and played two seasons at Providence before entering the transfer portal this spring.

Standing next to Langford on this Thursday in the quaint PSA gym is Hassan Diarra, brother of UConn’s 6-8 forward Mamadou. Like we said. We have family connections.

Diarra, a 6-3 guard, is ranked right there with Langford on the 2020 lists.

On the New England Recruiting Report, Langford is third and Diarra fourth.

On the ESPN national list, Diarra is 67th and Langford 72nd.

On 247Sports, Langford is a composite 80th and Diarra 99th.

UConn has offered Langford a scholarship. It has not offered Diarra.

“Demarr is a slasher. We always say he looks like Russell Westbrook,” Espinosa said. “He’s dunking on anybody. He’s so quick and athletic, so strong. His body is ridiculous. Defensively, he’s really good. Offensively, his weakness, everybody knows, is shooting the ball. He can still mature a little. In practice, if he misses a couple of jump shots, he’s talking to himself, ‘I can’t shoot.’ I would like to see him get a little mentally tougher.

“What Hassan has done here and what he has become is way past what we ever could have imagined. In two years, the kid has never come into a practice or a game not mentally ready to play or get better. He is probably the toughest kid in that respect we’ve ever had. He’s so mature, so mentally tough it’s unbelievable. Nothing bothers him. Make a bad pass, about to yell at him, next thing you know he’s on the other end of the court stealing the ball back.”

Langford said as college coaches began offering him for both 2019 and 2020, his confidence was boosted. The more he attacked the rim, the more interest rose. Stay in prep school and push and polish his offensive game, or get into college and have those coaches help get to where he wants to be quicker? That’s the question. He said he might not decide until the end of July when the AAU season ends. And the schools? Langford said, for now, all 14 on his list remain in the mix.

UConn coach Dan Hurley has impressed him.

“One thing I told Coach Hurley personally that I like about him is he’s kind of like my AAU coach (Vin Pastore of Mass Rivals),” Langford said. “Vin is a straightforward coach. He is going to tell you when you suck, and you need to work on this. That’s kind of how Coach Hurley came off when he came and talked to me. He said ‘You need to work on your offensive game and your jump shot.’

“There is a YouTube video of the 11game

run UConn had in 2011 to the national championship. And when he put that video on, it really showed me the work you put in is the outcome that comes out. Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb and that team and Coach (Jim Calhoun) put all the work in. That video inspired me to the best I can be.”

Langford said he is still figuring out his official visits, which he plans to start after Mass Rivals plays in the Adidas Gauntlet Qualifier on May 24-26. Two of Pastore’s players, Jalen Adams and Akok Akok, committed to UConn in recent years.

“I think UConn would be my first unofficial visit, go up with my parents on a Saturday or Sunday,” Langford said.

With the addition of RJ Cole, a coveted transfer from Howard eligible in 2020, there is a less pressing need for UConn to recruit a point guard next year. That affects Hassan Diarra. Mamadou’s chronic knee issues have clouded his playing future. That could affect Langford or another recruit arriving in 2019.

A dozen schools are pressing for Diarra’s toughness: Georgia, Dayton, VCU, USF, Texas Tech. St. John’s has jumped in. Recruiting is dynamic and crazy. Hassan and Demarr know this. They’ve seen it with their older brothers.

“Not just them, the whole family; the parents are more prepared for this,” Espinosa said.

Mamadou played at PSA for three years. Espinosa remembers when Hassan was young, big feet, long arms. The PSA staff thought he might sprout to 6-8, too. Didn’t happen.

“We’re still shocked he’s 6-3,” Espinosa said. “But mentally he’s so mature. Great student. Such a smart kid. Even the coaching staff, if we’re confused on how we ran a play last year, what did this guy do? It’s ask Hassan. He knows every set from last year. He’s a winner.”

Langford raves about the work Diarra has put in to transition toward being a point guard. Diarra raves about how Langford is built like a linebacker. They both rave about how good a teammate the other is.

The brothers? They talk and text each other every day. That’s how close they are.

“Mamadou tells me to enjoy the process,” Hassan said. “Don’t worry about the rankings, names and the schools. Just worry about the right fit. When the time is right, you’ll know.

“You have to stay positive. You have to try to stay healthy. Don’t get caught up in one goal to make it to the NBA. You have to have a Plan B. The ball is going to stop bouncing one day.”

“Makai was at Brewster, averaged the most points in games, went to Providence and wasn’t really playing,” Demarr said. “That showed me there are people who are really good. To be on that level, I’ve got to be on the grind.”

Langford turns to his light-hearted bond with Makai.

“It a funny, goofy relationship,” Damarr said. “We have a goofy love.” Makai’s big-brother advice?

“Keep working, keep grinding,” said Demarr, breaking into a smile. “He told me to stay away from the girls. That’s the biggest distraction in college. That and partying.”