SPM Talks With Lang & Harp

By Kecia Bailey: SPM CA Writer
Posted Monday, July 7, 2008

Crystal Langhorne (left) and Laura Harper (right). Photo by George Young.

SPM caught up with former Maryland Terrapins teammates Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper, who were about to take the floor against each other for the second time in their young professional careers when Harper’s Sacramento Monarchs hosted Langhorne’s Washington Mystics recently at ARCO Arena.

After finishing their stellar careers at the University of Maryland, highlighted by a National Championship in 2006, both players entered the WNBA this past April as first-round draft picks which sent them to opposite ends of the country.

Crystal Langhorne was drafted with the sixth overall pick by the Mystics but was able to stay relatively close to her Terrapin roots in Washington D.C., while teammate Laura Harper was drafted with the tenth overall pick by the Monarchs and landed on the west coast in California.

The two friends gave SPM a little insight on their friendship, their games and facing off as professionals.

SPM: How did you two first meet?

CL: I don’t remember, I think it was AAU?

LH: She was playing for the Boro Blitz (a New Jersey AAU team) at first actually.

CL: (laughs)

LH: Was that a joke?

CL: I was playing for a different AAU organization and we met somehow through that.

SPM: Did you two play on the same AAU team?

LH: We played a little bit together at (the Philadelphia) Belles. But we were in the same organization and had similar work outs, we just knew each other through Belles

SPM: With the two of you both being recruited by Maryland, did knowing each other help you make you your decision?

CL: We talked about it. I know we talked to a lot of people in high school about it. We became friends and we talked about how Maryland was one of our choices. Just having a friend, another post player, who was going to go to Maryland kind of helped it out a little bit.

LH: But, honestly, individually we made decisions. It was just a good fit for both of us. They didn’t really have post players and so, it was nice - we both had a good opportunity to develop and grow at Maryland.

SPM: Much has been said about how well you two complemented each other in the post for Maryland. How would you describe how your games work well together?

CL: Well, I would say Harp is the more energy-type player and I’m more the relaxed player. So, as post players, I was more low and she was hitting the high-post jump shots at times and we just really complemented each other’s games.

LH: Yeah definitely, both on and off the court. Her personality trait definitely always calmed me down and I liked to get her fired up. [After] four years, you get used to someone. I think we’re both experiencing now it’s tough getting used to somebody else and getting that flow with a different team. But it’s the name of the game and that should happen in Sacramento for me and in D.C for her.

SPM: Now that you’re apart, do you find that there are parts of each other’s game that you’ve taken from one another?

LH: Crystal is very patient in the post and I’ve tried to definitely slow my game down, as far as making-moves-wise. That’s something I’ve watched through the years. My first year, I was able to watch her the whole year and that’s something I took a little bit.

CL: And Harp, for me, seeing her develop that high-post jumper. That’s what I’m still trying to get to and get better at.

SPM: When did the realization first hit the two of you that you wouldn’t be playing together anymore? Was it on draft day or was there a specific point before that when it sunk in?

CL: It might have been before the draft because we knew we weren’t going to be playing together. (laughs). I think it was after our last game of the season for college that we knew.

LH: Yeah, we had a little breakdown when we realized it. (laughs). But at least now we can still be really close friends and still have that relationship through basketball. We know we’re not going to drift apart because we see each other.

SPM: How often are you two communicating?

Both: Everyday! (laughs)

SPM: After the WNBA draft, the two of you had an opportunity to play together in Beijing with the USA National Team. What was that experience like for you?

CL: That was a great experience for both of us. Just to be playing with so many veterans like Lisa Leslie and us being young rookies learning from them. I think it really helped both of our games out.

LH: It made us still realize that we had a chance to play again together. And play with like she said veterans, and be in China. It was a wonderful trip and we loved it.

SPM: You’ve had your first experience playing against each other as professionals a few weeks ago. And you also had a chance to play in front of your of Maryland teammates and fans back in the Washington D.C. area. What was that like?

LH: I just think it’s just a game. This is basketball and we’re used to it now and it’s like well, as soon as the game is over I get to do something with her. It’s like a 40 minute focus that you don’t really think too much about what’s going on. It’s just trying to get a win and I mean, I think I can probably speak for Crystal, I think that’s where our minds were.

CL: It’s very different playing against somebody you’ve been playing with for so long. I knew back at home everybody was watching us when we guarded each other (laughs), so it was just really different. But I mean, this game is going to be different – we’ve played each other and we got that (first) game out of the way. Now we’re just going to be trying to get a win for both of our teams.

LH: She thinks I want her to do well too…I don’t.

Both: (laughter)