College basketball recruits usually come in the same shape and sizes. They were high school stars before they shined on the AAU stage. Then the coaches came calling, and off they went in search of greatness.
This is not that story.
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Ron Wilson was a star basketball player for the Villanova Wildcats in the mid 90’s. A shot blocking, athletic center that could do it all.
“One time, in high school,” his son Langston said, “my dad blocked 17 shots in one game!’
Wilson was so good, life after college sent him Globe Trottering around the world. But four open heart surgeries cut Wilson’s career short after he was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects connective tissues throughout the body.
“Dad never brought it up,” Langston said. “He was a humble guy. I never realized everything he went through.”
As Langston began to grow, all he wanted to do was play basketball, just like his father. But the father’s health condition led to a gene connection that followed to his son. When there were concerns about his cardio tests, and doctor’s hesitated.
At Bonner Pendregast High School in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, all Langston could do was watch and cheer his high school friends on. There was no basketball in his future.
“It was frustrating,” he said. “I really wanted to play, but I knew I couldn’t. I was the team manager. All I could do was cheer.”
Without baskertball, Langston turned to music. He can play a mean saxaphone.
In 2018, he was just another student, working on the side, when a friend of his was shot. His family, conncerned about violence in the area, moved him to live with his sister in rural Georgia.
“I am down there,” he says, “and I literally have no place to go. And then I get a medical clearance from the doctors that I can play basketball. I head to some open gyms. People notice me, and then I am off and running.”
When you are just a regular kid in town, but you are 6-9 and 210 pounds, and you are destroying everyone in the town gym, somebody will come calling.
Langston quickly enrolled at Georgia Highland Junior College and began to showcase his game.
It did not take long. 24/7 Sports ranked him as the number 2 juco recruit in the country, and the number 1 power forward. He was labeled a 4-star recruit.
“I had about 50 offers coming out of Juco,” Langston said.
He would up choosing Alabama before switching to Washington. Left behind were Memphis, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Mississippi, Penn State, Maryland, and, oh yes, Kansas.
That meant he had to say no to Jerrance Howard.
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“Coach Howard is driving me around campus right now,” Langston told me over the phone.
“Get him some purple skittles and he will take you wherever you want to go,” I said.
Langston laughed, the laugh of a young man who has been given a second chance of pursuing his dream.
“The NBA,” he said. “I need to find a home that can help me live out my dreams.”
Two years at Washington did not produce many results on the court. He played in 28 games as a sophmore, 18 last year as a junior. He barely averged a couple of points and a couple of rebounds per game. The handwriting was on the wall.
“I knew I needed to drop down a level to have a chance to showcase my skills and grow,” Langston said.
So into the portal he bounced, along with what will soon become 2,000 other players. Murray State, Southern Miss and George Mason reached out to Langston early. And then came a phone call from an old friend he once had to say no to.
“And now here I am in Carbondale,” he said.
I asked Langston what his decision was going to come down to.
“A gut feeling,” he said. “I just want to enjoy my visit to Southern and the coaches. God will guide me and give me a sign. He always does. I trust God. I am already a walking miracle.”
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We said good bye, and I thought to myself, here is a young man who wound up with 50 scholarship offers, from big time schools, having never played a minute of high school basketball. How cool is that? And I couldn’t help but thinking how much I know Saluki Nation would love to cheer for someone who has fought the battle Langston has.
Enjoy your visit young man. Your father must be incredibly proud.