Langhorne legend in her own time

Usually a player’s number is retired long after a career is over.

For Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne, it wasn’t a matter of if but when.

That explains why the school didn’t waste any time hoisting her uniform to the Comcast Center rafters moments after the Terrapins’ final regular-season home game late last month.

“It may have been one of the greatest honors I’ve ever achieved,” Langhorne, a 6-foot-2 center, said Friday afternoon just before Maryland practiced at the Spokane Arena in preparation for its Sweet 16 matchup with Vanderbilt tonight at 6. “Just to think that the Maryland program thought that much of me and did it, especially while I’m still here. It really meant a lot.”

Four other Terrapins have been similarly honored. But only Langhorne was singled out before her career ended.

Langhorne’s number – “1” – is appropriate, too. She ranks as the No. 1 player in school history.

She will leave Maryland ranked No. 1 in several statistical categories. She’s the career leader in scoring, rebounding, field goals made, field goals attempted and games started, to name a few.

When Langhorne arrived at Maryland, she wanted to wear 24, the number she donned in high school. But it was already claimed. So she requested No. 1 – the first number, she said, that came to mind.

“It’s kind of boring, but it was the first number I could think of,” Langhorne said. “There was no real reason behind it.”

At the time Langhorne was being recruited in high school, two of the top programs in the nation, Tennessee and Connecticut, were courting her. But she chose a floundering program – the Terrapins were 10-18 the year before she arrived – over a seemingly guaranteed opportunity to play on a team that would challenge for a national title.

“Schools like Tennessee and UConn win a lot of championships,” Langhorne said. “They’re very good, don’t get me wrong, but I wanted to help build something at a new program. It’s just not about super powerhouses.

“With Coach B (Brenda Frese), I thought she could rebuild the program and I wanted to help bring a national championship to Maryland.”

Langhorne, who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player and Academic Scholar of the Year this season, became the centerpiece of the reclamation project that captured the NCAA championship her sophomore season.

Frese was relentless in her pursuit of Langhorne. So much so that Langhorne jokingly says Frese stalked her.

“I remember when I had AAU and high school games, (Maryland) always had a coach at my games,” Langhorne said. “Coach B was at a lot of my games. It showed me how much Coach B wanted me. So, yeah, she stalked me.”

“Crystal is by far the most decorated player to ever come through our program,” Frese said. “The most special thing about Crystal is not only what she’s been able to do to produce on the court – with the numbers, the accolades, being an All-American – but just what kind of person she is off the court … just how she carries herself as a person.”

She’s been an inspiration to her teammates.

“Playing with her the whole time, I feel like I’ve learned from the best and I’ve stepped my game up just playing alongside someone who is so good,” senior center Laura Harper said.

The left-handed Langhorne, who possesses a cotton-soft shooting touch around the basket, will leave Maryland with more than 2,100 points and 1,000 rebounds – more than any men’s or women’s player in school history.

Langhorne doesn’t want to be remembered for all of the statistics, though.

“It’s not always about how good you are – how many points you scored or how many rebounds you got,” Langhorne said. “It’s about how nice you are and who’s going to remember you when you leave and stuff like that. That’s what people really remember.”

Her senior season got off to a slow start. She missed the first six games with a sprained ankle. It’s the longest stretch she missed at Maryland.

“I’ve really been blessed,” she said. “I’ve never had a major injury in high school or college.”

Langhorne, who many believe will be a top-five pick in the WNBA draft, wants to collect one more national title before she’s done at Maryland.

She believes Maryland could be better than it was two years ago.

“We may be better just because we’re older now and we have a lot more experience,” she said of a team that features four starters from 2006.

Maryland’s glue has been Langhorne.

“I think the most special thing about Crystal is just how she handles pressure,” Frese said. “(She) never is fazed or caught up into any kind of pressure – especially the little things off the court that a lot of times girls can get caught up into with drama and different things that go on.”

That might explain why she’s No. 1 in more ways than one.