This is part of a three-part series of articles profiling the men's basketball team's Class of 1998.
Today: Trajan Langdon
Tomorrow: Steve Wojciechowski
How far and wide will basketball coaches search for players who can help their team?
A year after signing Greg Newton from Canada, Duke has gone all the way to Alaska to get Trajan Langdon, a 6-4 guard from Anchorage East High School.
Langdon-who recently signed a letter-of-intent to play for coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils in 1994-95-averaged 24.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the Class 4A state championships last season.
His team finished at 24-3 and was ranked No. 11 in the final USA Today poll.
Langdon became interested in Duke via the recruiting tool of television. The Blue Devils' consistent national exposure allowed Langdon to get a glimpse of the Duke program. And he liked what he saw.
"I really liked the way they played," Langdon said. "I just felt I could fit in there well. Over my high school years, I saw them playing in the best conference, getting the best players every year and having the best coach. What couldn't attract you to that program?"
The trouble for any recruit, much less one from a state dubbed "The Last Frontier," comes in attracting the attention of such a program. Here, Langdon combined old and new recruiting practices in reaching the Blue Devils: He took the first step in the process by writing to the Blue Devils to let them know that he was interested in playing for Duke.
His father sent a short note and a tape of Langdon playing against Oak Hill Academy, a prep school fromVirginia featuring current North Carolina freshman Jeff McInnis and Georgia Tech sophmore Martice Moore.
"We lost by three, and I played pretty well as a sophmore," Langdon said. "[But] up until my junior year, I had no idea that they would ever be interested in me because of all the great players they get. Although I worked hard and wanted to get there, I never thought that they'd actually see me."
The tape his father included and the Nike Tournament during the summer after his sophmore year took care of that problem. Langdon's performance in the prestigious tournament brought him recognition from recruiting analysts as one of the best players in the Class of 1994.
Apparently, the Blue Devils took note, sending assistance coach Tommy Amaker to watch Langdon during his junior year.
"I didn't play too well that game," Langdon said. "I guess he'd seen me and how I played the summer before at Nike. They kept in contact with me and kept watching me play."
His solid junior season was capped off by another great performance at the Nike Tournament last summer. Langdon was named to the all-tournament team, thereby reasserting his position as one of thebest high school players in the nation. He feels part of his strong showing was due to his desire to prove that, despite being from Alaska, he had the ability to play with the best players in the nation.
"A lot of people thought, "This kid is only getting invited because he's from Alaska,""Langdon said. "I felt I did need to go down there and show that I belonged. And I think I got some respect from some people. Making the top 20 game at the end showed some people that I could play."
When it came time to select a school this fall, Langdon narrowed his list to two schools, Duke and Stanford, having previously considered Kentucky, North Carolina, Wake Forest, UCLA and Rice. Langdon had several reasons for selecting the Blue Devils over the Cardinal.
"Both are great academic schools, but the basic thing that pushed Duke in front was the coaching, the way Coach K cares more for the player off the court than he really does on the court," Langdon said. "Also, the basketball atmosphere, the conference that they are in, and the competition that you can get playing with your teammates in practice were factors. Duke University gets the best players year after year to play against."
To prepare to face such competition, Langdon hopes to sharpen his already impressive skills in a pro-am league this summer. He admits that the competition he will face during his senior year in Alaska will leave him with some adapting to do for the college game.
"I don't fear anybody, but obviously there is a little fear going into the best conference in the nation and the best competition," Langdon said. "I feel that I have the fundamentals to move on. I feel I shoot the ball real well, and I feel like I hande the ball pretty well, making good decisions on the floor.
"The main thing that I think, from watching Duke play, that I really have to bring up is my pressure defense on the ball," Langdon said. "I think that's one thing that I'm lacking mainly because I don't get the competition and athleticism up here to play against all the time like they do down there.
"I just want to come in and show Coach K that I can really play, and contribute to the team. Hopefully, I can contribute to us winning."
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