PI EXCLUSIVE: Colt Langdon Breaks Down What it Means to Come Home

Last Thursday, Butler Transfer Forward Colt Langdon committed to NC State. I caught up with him on Saturday to get his take on what it meant for him to come home to Raleigh.

What was it about NC State that led you to commit to running with the Wolfpack?

Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of home.

I grew up a big NC State fan, and I got the call from Coach Howard and Coach Wade when I entered the portal. After getting to know them and seeing the vision they had for me, it was kind of a no-brainer, honestly.

You grew up an NC State fan. You’re a Raleigh native. What impact did the hiring of Will Wade have on your decision, and what was his pitch for how you fit in his system?

It was a huge factor, honestly. Coach Wade’s a great coach, a passionate coach, knows a lot, so him getting hired was a big factor in my decision. His vision for me is kind of, you know, I can score the ball, so he wants me to come in and be aggressive, shoot threes, then on defense he switches everything.

So, me being big and strong and versatile, I can guard multiple positions, and I feel like I’m a great fit for his offense, and can help them win a lot of games.

Do you see yourself as a 3 or a 4? What does Coach Wade see you as?

He kind of sees me as like a three/four, being able to play both. I kind of see myself the same way. Thankfully, in his offense, it’s kind of positional. Between the one and four, they all can handle the ball, all can drive, score the ball. That’s something I really like about his offense. It gives you freedom to handle and be yourself.

What does it mean for you personally to come back to Raleigh, come back home?

Yeah, it means everything.

I love Raleigh. I grew up in Raleigh, born and raised. So, being able to come back and represent NC State is huge for me.

I told someone that there’s a special pride, not only playing for your school, but playing for your city and your state. So, I feel like that’s just going to boost how hard I play. I’m going to come out every night and give everything I have to win games for NC State, for Raleigh and the state of North Carolina.

What are Coach Wade’s expectations for next season?

The expectation is championships and be great, honestly. Like he said in this press conference, this is not a rebuild year. This is a get back on top year and be one of the top teams in the ACC, hopefully win the ACC and make a deep run in March Madness.

That’s the goal for this year, and that’s the goal for every season. For NC State to be one of the best teams in the country every year and compete for championships, not only in conference, but in the nation.

What are your thoughts on the roster that Coach Wade and his staff has put together thus far?

He’s building a great roster and there’s definitely more to come.

I’ve known a lot of people on the team for a long time. I’ve known Paul McNeil, played against him all throughout high school. I played with Mikey (Wilkins) since I’ve grown up and, you know, getting to know Jerry (Deng) and Terrence (Arceneaux).

Been connecting with Jerry and Terrence the past couple of days, texting and over social media, whatever it is. I think we all will really mesh well. It’s hard bringing in a whole new team, but if anybody can do it, it’s Coach Wade. I feel like he’s bringing in the right guys that want to win, want to play hard and are selfless. So I feel like we’re going to mesh really well and have a really successful season.

Did you say you played with Mikey or you just played against him or knew him? 

I played with him in eighth grade on Boo Williams and I also played with him with Team United 17 years. So I played with him, against him, trained with him, worked out with him.

So I’ve known him for a while. That’s a really good friend of mine.

What have your conversations been like with him after making this decision? 

We’re both coming in as freshmen. We want to stay for four years and really build it up. Coach Wade wants to recruit high school talent and have them stay and develop.

So, we’re kind of planning on being there all four years. I know I am for sure. Talking to him, our goal this year is to win, like I’ve said before.

We’re both really excited to get on campus and then get to work.

There’s some spots left on the roster. How do you think that you can be a part of helping finish out this roster with your relationships?

I’m going to  do everything I can to get the best players in the state. Whether that’s just being active on social media, texting people, hitting people up. I’m going to do everything I can to get the best players in the nation to come to NC State.

All the targets we have left, I’m trying to contact them, tell them how great State is and tell them how great we can be this year. I’m going to do everything I can to get the best players out there to NC State so we can be a national championship contender year in and year out.

What is the optimism of the coaching staff about filling those final four roles?

I can’t really say too much about who we’re targeting or like the chances of stuff.

But, who wouldn’t want to play for NC State, honestly?

I feel like for the roster spots we have filled, Coach Wade will have no problem getting great talent here to NC State.

It’s been fun to watch Coach Wade’s staff. The crew that runs with him, especially Reed Vial and Andrew Slater. Watching some of them on social media, it seems like they’re bringing a new brand to NC State. Would you agree with that?

Yeah, 100%. You know, Reed’s great.

He’s hilarious on social media with all the stuff he does. Having Amir Khan coming to State, too. I feel like we’d be big on social media.

Thats’s a big part of the game today, is off the court stuff. Whether it be social media or TikTok or whatever it is. They’re definitely bringing a great brand off the court to NC State.

For a lack of a better word, they are bringing ‘aura’ to NC State. I think they’re doing a great job, honestly, I’m trying to play into that as much as I can.

I love getting the crowd going, getting them hyped up. I’m super excited to see what we can do off the court as well as on the court.

What type of player is NC State getting in Colt Langdon?

They’re getting somebody that’s going to go out there and do everything possible to win.

Like I said, there’s a certain pride in me representing my hometown and playing for NC State. So whatever it is to win, you know, I’m going to do it. I’m super fiery, like talking a lot, getting the crowd going.

So whatever I can do to get the crowd hyped up, to win games, is what I’m going to do. Hopefully, we can get NC State back to national championship status in the four years I’m here.

Was there any pitch from them of taking pride in the state and wanting to make sure they recruit the state well?

A hundred percent. When I was on my visit, we were kind of talking over who some of the best recruits in North Carolina is. And Coach Wade said that he really wants to keep the best talent in the state of North Carolina and North Carolina.

So obviously there’s a ton of talent in the hoop state. So he’s very passionate about keeping the talent in North Carolina and North Carolina and hopefully at NC State.