Will the SEC miss Romeo Langford?

We are now about a few weeks removed from Romeo Langford’s decision to attend Indiana and play for Archie Miller.

I can’t help but continue to ponder what implications the Kentucky basketball team would have been subjected to should Romeo have elected to join the SEC and play at Vanderbilt.

For a long time, I think many people in the recruiting world believed that Langford would do just that. In recent memory the idea of Vandy signing a McDonald’s All-American was laughable.

Not in 2018.

Coach Bryce Drew already had commitments from five star players Darius Garland and Simi Shittu long before Langford made his announcement on April 30th. Adding Romeo to Vandy’s already impressive roster would have made the Commodores a legitimate threat to win the SEC.

The freshman additions would have looked more like a University of Kentucky signing class as opposed to Vanderbilt.

Things didn’t work out that way as we all know. Langford ended his long drawn out recruitment by subjecting us all to a lengthy press conference before ultimately choosing Indiana.

Normally I am all for kids staying home to play, especially when Kentucky is not in the mix. But this time, I think it was kind of disappointing for the Big Blue Nation. The Kentucky fan base wants to see quality basketball and desires for the SEC to be well respected.

Adding Romeo Langford would have helped tremendously in both of those areas.

A good comparison may be Collin Sexton. I think it’s fair to say that the average college basketball fan, or even avid fan, could have cared less about Alabama basketball. But with the addition of a superstar player like Collin Sexton, the nation became at least somewhat familiar with the Crimson Tide.

The SEC really took a major step forward last year and was regarded as one of the top conferences in the country. It wasn’t as top heavy as previous years with Florida and Kentucky essentially challenging each other for the top spot. This parody provided a much more enjoyable viewing experience for fans that I hope continues.

Losing Romeo Langford to the Big 10 was not ideal but it may also provide Kentucky with an easier path in the SEC.

That being said, I would love to see the Cats and the Hoosiers match-up in the NCAA Tournament.

That is if Indiana can even score an invite.