photo by: Tyler Stewart/News and Tribune via AP

Romeo Langford places an Indiana University cap onto his head after selecting to continue his basketball career with the Hoosiers on Monday at New Albany High School, Monday, April 30, 2018, in New Albany, Ind.

The recruitment of five-star guard Romeo Langford ended right where most people expected it would — with the star of the Hoosier State committing to the Hoosiers.

Monday night, in front of more than 80 credentialed media members and a jam-packed high school gymnasium buzzing with anticipation, five-star guard Romeo Langford picked up a red Indiana Hoosiers hat, placed it on his head and ended one of the most high-profile recruitments of the decade.

After thanking a laundry list of people who helped him reach that moment in his life, Langford said simply, “With that being said, I will continue my education and basketball career at… [long pause as he placed the hat on his head] Indiana University.”

With that, the place went wild and all of those rabid Hoosiers fans who showed up to the public announcement rejoiced over landing the No. 5-ranked player in the 2018 recruiting class, Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, a player who many believe can single-handedly expedite Indiana’s rebuilding project under head coach Archie Miller.

Left sitting on the podium in front of Langford were Kansas and Vanderbilt hats, representatives of the two programs that came oh-so-close to bringing the Hoosier hero to their campuses.

Instead, the pull of staying home and playing out a college career in front of a state full of people who already adore him proved to be too much for any other program to overcome.

The 6-foot-5 wing who has been described as “a bucket getter,” likely would have been pencilled in as a starter at Kansas.

Some speculated that Langford waited so long to make his decision because he wanted to see what would happen with KU’s roster. And after both Malik Newman and Lagerald Vick elected to leave school early — making it all four of KU’s starting guards departing before next season — that fueled the belief, at least locally, that Langford could pick KU.

Ultimately, it came down to his desire to help rebuild Indiana into the national powerhouse it once was while doing it in front of a state full of adoring fans who have been just as active as the IU coaching staff in recruiting Langford to stay home.

Langford’s decision leaves KU with one open scholarship still to hand out before the 2018-19 season arrives and, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, the Jayhawks will host Albany graduate transfer Joe Cremo for an official visit this weekend.

Cremo, a 6-foot-4 guard who averaged 17.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists during the 2017-18 season at Albany, played in all 100 games games in which he suited up during his three years at Albany, starting 67 of them.

The shooting guard from Scotia, N.Y., played 35.2 minutes per game this season and shot 48.5 percent from 3-point range.

Cremo likely is not the only Plan B option for the Jayhawks to fill that final spot, but, because of his ability to shoot the ball, he has to be considered one of the more intriguing options.

As for the rest of KU’s 2018 class, it remains one of the Top 5 or 6 classes in the country, with five-star guards Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes expected to step in and compete for starting spots, four-star big man David McCormack adding depth and insurance inside in the form of someone who truly embraces a center’s role and three-star local prospect Ochai Agbaji, of Oak Park High in Kansas City, Mo., coming in as the wild card of the class.