4/11/2020 football Edit

In-state check-in: 2021 offensive lineman Langston Robinson

Jon McNamara • BadgerBlitz

Editor

Jon McNamara is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has covered UW athletics since 2002 and has worked at Rivals.com since 2006.

When Langston Robinson is ready to hone in on a final college decision, strong academics in his remaining schools will almost certainly be a common theme.

That mindset, according to the junior offensive lineman, is part of the culture at Marquette University High School.

"I think going to Marquette, I knew that academics would have to be in the front seat at all times," Robinson told BadgerBlitz.com. "Especially seeing guys like Sean Timmis, who I was fortunate to block with, Riley Nowakowski and Jon Gaines take care of their business and see where it got them is motivating.

"I'm really just trying to motivate myself and my guys to hold that standard."

Junior offensive lineman Langston Robinson currently has two scholarship offers.

At this point, the 6-foot-3, 300-pound prospect has scholarships from Minnesota Duluth and Columbia. More Division 1 programs are also showing strong interest this spring.

"I'm mostly hearing from Minnesota Duluth, Winona State, a few Ivy League schools - mainly Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton and Harvard - along with Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, Drake and South Dakota State. I took a visit to Iowa State back in October for their game against Oklahoma State and was scheduled for a junior day at Princeton, but that pretty much fell through because of the coronavirus.

"It definitely felt good to finally see the hard work coming to fruition with the two offers. I kind of felt the Duluth offer was coming soon, just because of the amount of stuff I kept seeing on my timeline about them. Plus, when (Hilltoppers teammate) Joe Timmis got offered, it kind of felt like, 'OK, it's getting closer.' But the Columbia offer was definitely unexpected."

Robinson, like many other prospects across the country, is trying to navigate a crucial recruiting stretch without being able to take on-campus visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's been disappointing, to say the least," Robinson said. "A lot of these guys work hard to have these opportunities, so it's disappointing to not enjoy your rewards. I try to remember that everyone is going through the same thing and that practicing these safety guidelines are what will get us back to normal as quickly as possible.

"When things open back up, I definitely want to visit an Ivy school or two for the experience. Those names carry a lot of weight, history and tradition, so that would be a cool thing to do. South Dakota State, Winona State, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois and Duluth are probably somewhere down the line. I just don't really know yet."

Most schools project Robinson to play on the interior of the offensive line in college, though he's open to helping in any way he can at the next level.

"I'm always open to wherever coaches see potential in me and I've told them that whenever we text or call," Robinson said. "I want to make sure I'm always telling them that I want to be where the team needs me at. That's something that MUHS is really big on. In fact, I've never played on the left side of the offensive line until this season when they asked me to. I'm just going where they need me to go.

"When I'm looking at schools, I want to go there as much as they want me there. If I’m going to spend the most crucial part of my life somewhere, I want to know that it’ll be like going to a new home and not just leaving home entirely. Obviously academics and playing time play a part in it, but those are the big three for me."