AURORA | In his standout career at Eaglecrest High School, Langston Williams rarely came off the football field, as he played offense, defense and special teams.
Versatility has been a staple for Williams, who affects games regularly with his speed and instincts, and he hopes that trend continues at the Division I level.
Williams signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday with Colorado State, which recruited him as a cornerback, but could end up with much more than that from the 5-foot-10, 155-pounder.
“They offered me for cornerback, but back in May we were talking and I expressed to them I would want to play receiver as well,” Williams told the Sentinel. “Coach (Steve) Addazio said ‘I’m going to put the best players on the field,’ meaning wherever I’m helping the team, I can play. They will give me the opportunity to do both positions if I earn it.”
Signing Day was full of versatility as well for Williams, who sent in his official paperwork at 7 a.m., then did a ceremony with Eaglecrest teammates Seyi Oladipo (who signed with Boise State) and Ty Robinson (who signed with Colorado), then participated in a Zoom signing with Eaglecrest.
Whether or not he can make that happen, Williams should make an impact somewhere, as he did during his senior season at Eaglecrest, where he earned All-Centennial League second team honors as a wide receiver (229 yards receiving, two touchdowns), played a key role in a talented secondary and made impact plays on special teams.
Williams is one of the rewards of Colorado State’s focus on in-state talents and he joins two other standouts from Aurora programs in Grandview defensive end Mukendi Wa-Kalonji (see story) and Regis Jesuit defensive end Clay Nanke in a group of six Colorado prep players so far in the Rams’ recruiting class.
Williams said Colorado State was the only campus of any of the schools that were interested in him that he was able to visit due to the coronavirus pandemic and felt really comfortable with the campus on top of the personal connection he had made wit members of the Rams coaching staff.
“I was getting calls from other colleges, but CSU was the school that really contacted me and stuck with me; they really showed they cared for the Colorado players,” Williams said.
Williams is happy to fulfill his dreams of playing DI football, but his athletic path to college nearly took him another direction.
He won a Class 5A state championship in the 400 meter dash as a sophomore with a time of 48.59 seconds) and also finished second in the state in the long jump with a top jump of 23 feet, 3/4 inch.
That performance helped make him a target of Division I track programs as well, but it couldn’t pull him away when he got the chance to play at Colorado State.
“I grew up and started playing football and then my coach on my football team introduced me to track,” Williams said. “I loved it, but I love football a lot more. I had colleges coming in and reaching out in both, but I’ve always wanted to play DI football, so thankfully I was given the opportunity to play at the next level for football.”
Williams is hoping to run indoor track and possibly compete for a portion of the track season in the spring, though he is unlikely to be able to compete at the state meet. The coronavirus pandemic has shifted the calendar back to put the state finals June 24-26 when he is scheduled to be in Fort Collins working out with Colorado State.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports