money Langdon Hatton brings family connection – and 'great poise' – to Bellarmine basketball
It’s always nice to see a familiar face when coming to a new place. Just ask new Bellarmine forward Langdon Hatton.
The sophomore is a fresh face on campus after transferring from William & Mary, but he already had a connection with junior forward Eli Roberts.
“Our dads played ball together at (Transylvania University),” Roberts said. “They were roommates for a couple of years.”
Steve Hatton and Erwin Roberts were teammates at Transylvania from 1991-94 and grew to become close friends on and off the court. The link between the two goes back decades.
“His dad was actually my dad’s best man in his wedding,” Hatton said about his new teammate.
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The younger Hatton and Roberts didn't quite grow up together, but they knew each other from the times they'd see each other on the AAU circuit. Now sharing the same team, the pair is looking forward to covering the same ground their fathers did more than three decades earlier.
“I just think it’s funny because now me and LT are doing some of the things that my dad was talking about,” Roberts said. “(Going to) practice, hanging out, playing video games and just living together. It’s really cool that we’re both able to do that.”
Hatton hopes to contribute more to the team than just good times off the court.
A big body at 6-foot-10, Hatt provides Bellarmine another frontcourt option to join junior forward Sam DeVault and senior center Baylor Younker, and he hopes to use his frame to his advantage during the coming season for the Knights.
“Down low, I can bang with the big guys a little bit,” Hatton said. “I can rebound and block some shots occasionally. I can space the floor pretty well and hit open shots.”
Hatton's composure has stood out to Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport. The Knights' new big man played in plenty of high-stakes games during his time at North Harrison High School in Southern Indiana.
“He has great poise,” Davenport said. “He’s played on a very high level in terms of playing big games.”
Hatton’s main goal this summer is to get in better shape so he can handle the physical demands of college basketball. But he's also looking forward to making the same kind of connections with Roberts and other teammates that his father made 30 years ago.
“That would be awesome,” Hatton said. “There’d be pretty crazy stories to tell while we make some runs.”
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Reach Jonathan Saxon at JSaxon@gannett.com or 502-715-1393 and follow him on Twitter at @TheSleepyScribe.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Bellarmine Knights welcome William & Mary transfer Langdon Hatton
