Keith Langford might not sleep in the hallways of Allen Fieldhouse like scores of KU students do before games, but that doesn’t mean the sophomore sharp-shooter doesn’t like to camp.
Langford just prefers to do so in the summer and on the basketball court.
“I put in a lot of work this offseason, so I’m just ready to showcase my talent,” said Langford, who attended several basketball camps over the summer including the prestigious Nike Camp in Indianapolis. “You know, prove myself to myself, my teammates and everyone else watching.”
Langford probably already did that as a freshman.
The Fort Worth, Texas, native averaged 7.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, but it was his play during the Jayhawks’ run to the Final Four that served as the 6-4, 205-pound super sub’s coming out party.
Langford’s scoring average jumped to 10.8 ppg during the five NCAA tournament games and his rebounding increased as well. No game was bigger for Langford than the Jayhawks’ 104-86 blowout against Oregon in the Midwest regional final in Madison, Wis.
Langford scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds, both career highs. His thunderous rebound slam during the second half fueled a fiery KU run that allowed the Jayhawks to pull away.
That performance may have also secured his spot on the Midwest Regional All-Tournament team, although his 15-point, three-rebound, three-assist performance against Illinois in the semifinal certainly didn’t hurt.
“Those last couple of games were real good for me,” Langford said. “But I just want to grow off those two games. I want to show that those two games weren’t like a fluke, that I didn’t just get lucky.”
Even in the limelight, Langford wasn’t satisfied.
“I feel like I could have played even better in those two games,” he said. “I just want to play like that continuously throughout the whole year.”
That’s why he went to camps over the summer.
“I just worked on getting stronger, being able to finish at the goal a lot better,” Langford said. “I really worked on handling the ball a lot more, catching and shooting. Being a complete player instead of just slashing to the basket.”
The sophomore wasn’t just honing his skills in Lawrence, either. Langford logged some major miles.
He played with teammates Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien and Nick Collison and against several other top collegians at the Nike Camp. He worked to improve his dribbling and shooting as a guard on the NIT All-Stars, which toured Canada.
Langford, the Jayhawks’ best vertical jumper, eventually made it back to Lawrence to work on increasing his leaping ability. But not before he went back home to Texas and North Crowley High, his alma mater, for a camp.
“There’s always room for work,” Langford explained, “because somebody out there will be better than you.”
For Langford, that somebody was Maryland’s Juan Dixon.
Dixon, who was guarded early in the Jayhawks’ Final Four game primarily by Langford, torched the Jayhawks for 33 points on 10 of 18 shooting.
“This little kid came up to me and asked me: ‘Keith how come you couldn’t stop Juan Dixon?'” That got me thinking about it and I wanted to be mad about it. But I couldn’t do anything but learn.”
