Familiarity, fit, and education lead three-star Long to pick UVa

In the middle of the afternoon Sunday, three-star Christ School standout Langston Long was still doing precisely what Bronco Mendenhall had encouraged him to do: Taking his time and coming up with a decision timeline that worked for him.

Of course, when he told CavsCorner that's what he was doing, he didn’t realize within a few hours he’d be UVa’s third commit in the class of 2021.

The 6-foot-3, 210 pounder announced his decision on Sunday evening, as the feeling he had during his visit the previous day eventually won out.

“I just felt like I was needed,” he said of the commitment, “and I was genuinely wanted. Coupled with me knowing the staff for almost two years, I felt I could trust them to assist me in becoming the best student-athlete I’d like to be.”

The former Hylton playmaker, who decided to reclassify in an effort to garner more college options, now has a path set for him.

That it includes a future at inside linebacker rather than safety that took some getting used to.

“Yeah, Coach (Shane) Hunter wants me at inside linebacker,” Long explained. “I have some experience there. I played there during my sophomore year and then I dabbled in it some last year. It’s not completely new to me but it’s also not the position I play the most."

So how long has Virginia wanted him to switch positions?

“Since the beginning actually,” he recalled. “I got a text from the staff, I think it was Coach (Kelly) Poppinga, saying that they saw me as an inside linebacker. And, man, that hurt a little bit at first. But over time, I came to understand it and realize it’s a legitimate option. Honestly, I just want the best situation for me and whatever can propel me to where I want to be in life. I came to realize I needed to consider it even if it wasn’t a position I thought I’d end up playing. With their history of putting people in the league, it definitely made me think a lot about it and consider it.”

Even if he’s not all that familiar with the position, part of what went into Long’s decision to pick UVa was the familiarity with the program.

“I’ve been there four or five times honestly,” he told CavsCorner. “It was just cool to get to understand just how serious the coaches were about me and wanting me to come there. It’s been getting closer to that time, ya know? They were just making sure that I understood how much they wanted me to be a part of what they’re building there….Going to UVa so many times, I’m pretty familiar with the coaching staff by now.

“I got to watch film with Coach Hunter and he talked to me about Jordan Mack, who was a guy a lot like me they said," he added. "That’s the spot they want me to play and the position they see me prospering in.”

It didn’t hurt UVa that when Long arrived in Charlottesville on Saturday, there was another familiar face in the crowd.

“Last year, when I was a junior before I reclassed, I was able to go up to Delaware for a visit and Coach (Clint) Sintim was their safeties coach at the time and he was really hoping I’d commit there,” Long said. “Now, he’s at UVa as the defensive line coach. So getting to come down and see Coach Sintim again, that was really cool. And being able to reconnect with the whole staff and then him too, it just made me feel like a part of the family.”

The season the Wahoos just had and the way things have been trending for Mendenhall and Co. helped Virginia’s cause as well.

“It just shows me that they’re already making great progress,” Long said. “It’s definitely helps with recruiting when they can show that on the field. It makes you want to be a part of that.”

For someone who said he’s looking at “pharmaceutical science or biomedical engineering or pre-law” in terms of what he’ll study in college, the educational opportunity at UVa was also something that clearly has had his attention.

“Knowing they have one of the top public schools in the country every year, that’s just amazing to think about the level of education I can get and combining that with high-level football, it’s eye opening,” Long said.

The conversation he had with Mendenhall surely helped to seal the deal even if the actual commitment came later.

“I was talking with Coach Mendenhall about [committing] and he was telling me to establish a timeline for myself,” Long said. “Since I’m going to be an early enrollee, I would want to make the decision pretty early and sign early obviously.

“I definitely did think about it, about committing on my visit, but in talking with Coach Mendenhall, sometimes you’ve got to take a step back and make sure you’re doing the right thing," he added. "I actually really appreciated that, the idea of talking it through with my family and looking at all my options. Coach Mendenhall didn’t put that pressure on me to commit right then. He was really more focused on me making the best decision for me and I really appreciated that.”

And if the fact that he committed to the Cavaliers the next day isn’t his lasting memory of the trip, maybe it will be the fact that one of the activities the staff had for the recruits was playing kickball inside the indoor facility. And things apparently got pretty competitive.

“We played kickball too,” Long said with a laugh. “And I don’t take kickball lightly. I do not take it lightly at all. I am a serious kickball enthusiast.

“When that ball came a rolling, you know what had to happen,” he added. “It was important to me that they not just see me as a football player but also as a kickball extraordinaire.”

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