USC basketball coach Frank Martin and staff have three pieces in place in the 2021 class with a pair of guards and a small forward. They would like to add a big man to the crew and one they have targeted is 6-9 Langston Wilson of Georgia Highlands JC. New Gamecock assistant coach Will Bailey first recruited and offered Wilson when he was at Saint Louis, and he has continued his work with him in Columbia.
“I talk to Coach Bailey pretty frequently, three or four times a week,” Wilson said. “I talk to Coach Martin probably every other week or so. It’s still a strong line of communication.”
What Wilson likes about those conversations is they just don’t focus on basketball. He said Martin and Bailey show a lot of interest in his off the court progress, and he loves hearing that.
“When me and Coach Martin talk, it’s not predicated 100% on basketball,” Wilson said. “Me and Coach Martin have a lot of the same interests, like in regards to jazz music and things like that. So when we speak, it’s not always basketball related. He’ll say a little bit about how their workouts went and things like that. It’s the same way with Coach Bailey. Just me knowing Coach Bailey since he was at Saint Louis and that relationship that we built, we’re send each other a couple of texts and a couple of motivational things we’ll say to each other. We’ll just talk and see just how everything is going. More or less our conversations consist mostly of talking about life and the things that are going on.”
Those conversations have led to a strong relationship between the Gamecock staff and Wilson.
“Those guys, they are great people,” Wilson said. “Coach Martin’s resume more or less speaks for itself in a sense. Outside of that, you’ve got Coach Bailey, who I respect so much as a coach. Even everyone else on the staff as well, they just have a really good overall staff. From their strength and conditioning, there’s Coach Bruce (Shingler) also. I feel as though it’s a strong relationship between us.”
Wilson just picked up offers from Arizona State and Howard. He also has offers from Alabama, Mississippi, Wichita State, Oregon, Tulsa, UAB, SMU, Maryland, East Carolina, VCU, Seton Hall and Memphis. He said he hears from all of those schools as well. He has not narrowed his list and he’s not decided on all of his official visits. When he can take visits, Wilson said USC will most likely be on his itenerary.
“It’s a strong possibility just because of the relationship that we have,” Wilson said. “I want to get up there whether it would for an official or an unofficial or anything like that. I do want to get up there, but I feel there’s a strong possibility I will take an official visit there.”
Wilson said he has not decided if he will sign in November or wait until the spring. Last season Wilson averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game.
