Michigan State Basketball: Josh Langford crucial for 2019-20 national title run

Michigan State Basketball managed a Final Four run without Josh Langford last season, but he will be crucial in the team’s quest for a national championship.

Michigan State Basketball guard Josh Langford was in the process of taking his game to another level last season, averaging 15.0 points per game and shooting 40.3% from long-range in 13 games.

(Credit to sports-reference and KenPom for statistics and Big Ten Network for GIFS).

This was all unfortunately cut short when Langford suffered an ankle injury on December 29th against Northern Illinois. Roughly a month later, it was announced he would miss the remainder of the season.

The 6-5 Huntsville, Alabama native has at times been a bit maligned by Spartans fans as he’s worked to live up to lofty expectations. As a 5-star recruit (19th overall in 2016 class), many expected more than the 6.9 points per game he averaged over his freshmen season.

But assuming he gets back to near 100%, Langford is a REALLY good player that will be crucial as Michigan State strives for a national title in 2019-20. It’s not clear whether he’ll be ready by the season opener, but it seems reasonable that he’ll back sometime in the 2019 calendar year.

Shooting Prowess

Despite any growing pains Langford has experienced over his college career, the 3-point shot has always been there. He will be among five seniors this upcoming season that have the chance to join the “40-40-40-40 club.” Per sports-reference, only five players have shot >=40% from 3-point range over each of the last three seasons, and they will each look to make it a perfect four.

Josh Langford – Michigan State (included Langford despite shortened junior year)

Markus Howard – Marquette

Matej Kavas – Seattle

Balint Moscan – Idaho State

Brendan Barry – Dartmouth (distant relation to the Barry’s of the NBA)

He was also one of only 20 players last season to average >=2.2 made 3-pointers per game, shoot >= 40.3% from 3-point range, average >=2 made free throws per game and shoot >= 83.9% from the line. Wofford’s Fletcher Magee and Belmont’s Dylan Windler were among the 20.

Langford took on a bit more of a playmaking role when healthy last season, elevating his assist rate from 10.5% to 16.3%. Still, his backcourt mate in Cassius Winston handles most of the distributing, allowing Langford to focus on scoring.

Although he’s excelled most with his shooting, the rising senior has improved his ability to get to the basket as well.

Next Season

Even without Langford last season, the Spartans made an impressive run to the Final Four before falling to Texas Tech. With several key players returning, the team surely has an eye on giving Tom Izzo his first national title since 2000.

The Spartans return four key seniors in Langford, Winston, Xavier Tillman and Kyle Ahrens, along with sophomore Aaron Henry. Despite the losses of Nick Ward, Kenny Goins and Matt McQuaid, Michigan State is the consensus favorites heading into next season.

Despite the hype, there are two main question marks: 1) Will Langford get back to near 100%? and 2) Will there be adequate front court support for Xavier Tillman?

With Ward and Goins gone, it looks like 6-11 sophomore Marcus Bingham will be called upon to provide solid play on the interior. Although he only averaged 3.6 minutes last season, Bingham was the 62nd ranked recruit in the 2018 class and has plenty of potential.

Regardless of any lingering questions, another special season should be in store for Michigan State. This time, hopefully, Langford will get a full chance to shine.