“I’ve got goose pimples,” Langford, a 6-foot-5, 202-pound high school senior from Crowley, Texas, said, minutes before his Sport2Sport team’s tipoff at the Jayhawk Invitational 17&under tournament.

His 32-point, six-rebound effort in his fieldhouse debut gave goose bumps to about 300 fans who watched a Langford-led 82-63 victory over Colorado Joint Effort.

Langford scored off pull-up jumpers and drives to the hole, showing some quick feet and spring in his legs. The left-handed shooter rammed two dunks off passes from future KU point guard Jeff Hawkins, who dished 10 assists, plucked six steals and scored five points.

“I get to the hole quick and shoot the outside jumper. I try to mix it up,” said Langford, who had one vicious dunk off an out-of-bounds play feed from the 5-foot-11 Hawkins.

“This is really exciting for me. It’s the first time I’ve gone against elite competition in a while.”

Langford had meniscus surgery on his right knee in late March and has only been full speed the past few weeks.

“The injury is taken care of. I feel as good as I ever have,” Langford said.

He appeared fully energized Friday night, playing just an hour and 10 minutes after future KU teammate Wayne Simien picked him up at Kansas City International Airport and shuttled him to the fieldhouse.

“It was easy to find Wayne (in the terminal). He was the biggest dude there,” Langford said of Simien, a 6-9 Leavenworth High product.

“I wish he could play, too.”

Simien had shoulder surgery last month and will be out of action until late August or early September.

Like Langford, Simien should be healthy in time for his freshman season. Both players are expected to contribute immediately at KU.

“Kenny (Gregory) graduated. He’s somebody who plays a similar position to me. I don’t want to down Kenny or anything, but I feel I can fill in there,” Langford of the departing senior, who started for KU at small forward.

“Two (spot) or three (spot) it does not matter. It’s all on the perimeter,” Langford noted. “Coach (Roy) Williams … he is like he wants me to come in and play hard. There’s no guarantee of starting or anything, but there’s an opportunity for me to earn a spot. It’s exactly what I wanted, an opportunity.”

A year ago at this time, nobody would have imagined Langford would have a chance at replacing Gregory in KU’s 2001-02 lineup.

Coming off a junior season in which he averaged 18.3 points and 7.2 boards, Langford turned a few but not many heads while playing for a Texas team in some local AAU events in the Longhorn State.

Honored that Mississippi’s coaching staff had shown a lot of early interest, Langford committed to play basketball for the Rebels in late May, 2000.

“I committed to Ole Miss before I went to the Nike camp,” Langford said of the July camp in Indianapolis. “That was a deal I was not getting recruited by anyone. They were in Texas and saw me in a local tournament.

“They were the only school interested besides TCU, North Texas and some small schools. I thought it was a good bet for me.”

However, Langford had a breakout summer, playing well at Nike and for a Texas AAU team at various summer tourneys.

Suddenly several schools were interested in Langford but he talked to none of the coaches because he was committed to Ole Miss.

In September, after hearing schools like Connecticut and UCLA were interested, Langford on the advice of his older brother decided to re-open his recruiting.

He visited Kansas and Cincinnati and last November picked KU over Cincinnati and Oklahoma, a school he’d visited one summer.

“They were disappointed, but they understood,” Langford said of the Ole Miss coaches. “I had to do what was best for me. I visited Kansas and liked the school and players and coaches. It’s hard to turn down an opportunity to play at a place like Kansas.

“There’s noting like Lawrence, Kansas, and Allen Fieldhouse,” Langford added. “It’s a great experience to get to play here before the start of my freshman season. I came to a game earlier this year but never played in here. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The Sport2Sport team will meet Westchester Hawks of New York at 9:30 a.m. today at Sport2Sport, then will play a noon game at Allen Fieldhouse against the Houston Junior Hardballers.

Langford will return to Texas after the afternoon game and attend his high school prom tonight. He says he’ll be back Sunday for the final day of the tourney. Finals are 2 p.m. Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I’ll be back if we’re winning,” Langford said.

College coaches cannot attend the Sport2Sport sponsored youth hoops tourney because it is a quiet period in recruiting.