LJ b BB: Aron a challenge in name and deed

Langston Aron (far right), with fellow senior
teammates and classmates on Senior Night.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

The public address announcer at Christian High Feb. 5 had difficulty pronouncing Viking Langston Aron's last name.

He said something like "ARE-on". It's not unusual for La Jolla basketball fans to hear vocal tightrope walks like this when their team is on the road.

There was the game earlier in the season, at another venue, in which the announcer put a strictly Latino pronunciation on the forward's surname: "ar-RONE", like the "o" is long.

The valuable rebounder and defender already has a distinctive first name: His parents named him after Langston Hughes, the renowned African-American author who helped lead the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's.

Probably if his last name had another "a", like "Aaron", no announcers would be stumbling over enunciating his name.

In any case, the senior has enjoyed a nice final year of prep sports. Recruited by Viking football coach Tyler Roach and his staff after witnessing his athletic prowess on the basketball varsity in 2017-2018, Langston tried high school football for the first time last fall and moved into a starting role as a linebacker on defense.

The physicality of the position fit Aron's aggressive approach, which is also visible on the basketball court where Langston leaps, pushes, and makes attempt-after-attempt on putbacks until he can't anymore.

His contributions as a role player on Coach Paul Baranowski's hoops team can't be minimized. With fellow senior forward--and football teammate--Evan Brown injured in football and out for much of the basketball season, Aron has filled a key role in the front court.

In some configurations, he is the only non-guard on the floor. In those situations, he can run with the smaller Vikings, and he can also go up and get the ball for them off the glass.

The Vikings, especially in the tough Western League, often face lineups much taller than theirs. So Aron's 6'2" height, extended by his leaping ability, gives them another card to play to try to neutralize, for example, St. Augustine's 6'7" Chibuzo Agbo and Mission Bay's Ronnie Latting of the same height.

Even guard Luke Haupt of the league-leading Saints stands 6'6", and he's in the back court. So the boys from La Jolla have had a tall order in battling their conference counterparts.

Other than Brown, who is also 6'2" and who returned to play recently, guard Nick Hulquist is 6'4". No one else on the red-and-black side measures six feet.

Langston's dad, with his younger brother, is pretty much in attendance at every one of Aron's games. Besides observing the 17-year-old's development on defense in football last fall, dad has also seen his son's growth in confidence and his persistence in putting the ball back up, again, and again, and again.

Another quality that makes Aron valuable to the hoop contingent is his willingness to go the floor after loose balls. Not every player will do this. Langston has done it from the start, and he has led his teammates in being one of, sometimes, two or three bounding after the ball against opposing players in a dog pile.

Not being an offensive specialist, he isn't relied up to shoot from the outside or create his own shot off the dribble. But inside, he is willing to take the ball up, as has been stated.

Also, his touch at the free throw line has improved. It used to be a case of shooting the ball anywhere near the hoop. But this year, the 12th-grader has made it respectable in most cases.

His aggression goes well with the Jett Wilson-Behzad Hashemi mix that has led the Vikings this year. La Jolla, at times, has surprised opponents who didn't expect quite the fight or quite the effectiveness that the Vikings have been able to roll out in spurts.

Langston, at linebacker in fall 2018, recorded 37 tackles, with five TFL's (tackles for loss), and 2.0 sacks.