RYAN FLYNN — General Assignment Reporter
These cousins, separated by just a year in age, have been sharing the basketball court for most of their lives—just not on the same team. Now, for the first time since the they were 7 years old, Dominique and Greg Langston are suiting up for the same squad. The sophomore swingmen have been relishing the opportunity.
“I love it,” Dominique said of playing with his cousin. “I know how he plays, I can go off of how he plays and I know how I play and I hope he can do the same thing. I know he can score. I know when he’s off. I feel like I’ve got to be that next person to step up. I just love playing with him.”
The duo said they learned the game playing in their grandfather Frank Langston’s AAU program. There, 7 and 8-year-old Greg and Dominique played almost exclusively against older players. Dominique grew up in Bridgeport and Greg in Stratford, but they still spent plenty of time together during their youth.
The two went their separate ways for high school, however, with Greg enrolling at St. Joseph’s High School and Dominique at Kolbe Cathedral. The two would face off against one another on the court over the next few years, with Greg’s first real high school game being a defeat at the hands of Dominique’s Kolbe team. From that point on, though, Greg claimed most of the head-to-head wins between the cousins.
Their freshman year of college was spent separately as well, with Dominique playing for Division I Quinnipiac while Greg played his freshman ball with the Owls. Dominique decided to transfer after his freshman year and spoke with head coach Michael Donnelly over the summer.
“I didn’t want to take any other D-1 looks. I knew off the rip that I wanted to come here,” Dominique said. “I didn’t want to tell him, though.”
Dominique kept his younger cousin in the dark in regard to his transfer to Southern, and Greg admitted to being “oblivious to the whole thing over the summer.” He did eventually find out, and since their on-court reunion, the cousins have become a pivotal part of the Owls attack.
“We both know what we’re capable of, so we just push each other to just maximize what we’re doing,” Greg said.
As Dominique noted, the cousins don’t just push each other physically but mentally as well.
“It feels like sometimes when he loses his head, our whole team breaks down,” Dominique said. “So, it’s like, I want to make sure he keeps his head right. The team will see that, and we’ll end up sticking together.”
They may share a bloodline, but the Langstons are vastly different players on the court. Dominique touts an impressive all-around game, leading the team in both rebounds and assists while also scoring 12.5 points per game, good enough for third on the team. Greg, on the other hand, is a pure scorer. He leads the team in this category, putting up 17.5 points per game while also leading the team in steals.
“Dominique’s probably a little bit more of a set-up guy,” Donnelly said. “He facilitates well, he’s got a good floor game, he’s a little bit more vocal with the ball in terms of kind of directing guys. Greg is a natural scorer. He can attack the rim, he can make some real difficult shots and he can score different ways.”
At 10-11, the Owls have shown flashes but have really only been consistent in their inconsistency. To turn things around, this young team will need to continue to rely on their three double-digit scorers, two of which just happen to be named Langston.