Willard graduate Jimmy Langhurst plays through the grief

MOON TWP., Penn.

Jimmy Langhurst looked at his ringing cell phone at 8:30 a.m. Friday and quickly recognized it was the number of his father Jay calling and winced, but not because he was still tired.

He knew a harsh reality had hit his family during the holiday season.

"I saw it was my dad calling...and I just already knew," Langhurst, a 2006 Willard graduate, said.

What he already knew was his father had called to tell him that Jimmy's grandfather, Jim Langhurst, had passed away earlier that morning at the age of 89.

The patriarch of arguably the most decorated athletic family in area history; the eldest Langhurst was Willard's first state track champion and went on to play football for The Ohio State University where he was a three-year letterwinner.

As a sophomore in 1938 he was the Buckeyes' team MVP and led the Big Ten in scoring as a fullback and the following year was the member of the 1939 Big Ten championship team before being elected team captain for his senior season in 1940.

He was then the 89th overall pick in the 1941 draft for the Brooklyn Dodgers and after his playing days, he went on to become a college football official and worked the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowls as a head linesman.

He was also a World War II veteran for the United States Navy.

Jimmy's father Jay scored 974 points at Willard from 1965-68 and is 10th all-time in career scoring and sixth all-time for career scoring average with 18.0 points per game.

Jimmy then had a spectacular career for the Flashes from 2003-06 in becoming the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,199 points and finished ranked either first or second in 16 school record categories at the school. Jimmy then accepted a full ride scholarship to Division I Robert Morris, where he is a junior and second on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game.

The youngest Langhurst suspected things had taken a turn for a worse Dec. 4 when his dad talked to him after the Colonials home loss to St. Francis, NY.

"My dad told me that night after my game that he was going to go home and check on my grandfather," Jimmy said. "He had originally told me he would stay Thursday through Saturday but he told me he didn't think grandpa would make it through the weekend.

"I thought about coming home right then so I could see him one last time, but my dad said he would understand and want me to play and come home afterwards."

And play he did.

In 26 minutes, Langhurst scored 13 points on 3 of 5 shooting from the field and 6 of 6 at the foul line in a 81-70 win over Long Island.

"It was real tough," Langhurst said. "My coach (Mike Rice) before the game wanted to tell everyone about it and we had a moment of silence and it hit me real hard. I was crying and the rest of the guys just kind of said let's go out there and get this one for him.

"I went out there and warmed up fine, but then the National Anthem started and I was thinking about it again because he was a veteran. From there I hit my chest, pointed to the sky and after that it didn't bother me as much and I went out and played the best I could."

The whole 24-hour window left Langhurst with little time for any reflection.

"I didn't have time to think about it at first," he said. "I've got finals this week so it's just been studying and basketball. So when I'm on the court it's all basketball and I wasn't thinking about it. It was on my drive home that I was finally able to think about it."

The eldest Langhurst was unable to travel to Pennsylvania to see Jimmy play due to his declining health, but Jimmy would bring him DVD copies of games to watch at home. But during his star-studded Willard career, Jim and his wife, Janis, were fixtures at the games.

When Jimmy scored 55 points in a 101-98 win over Upper Sandusky a Division II district championship in one of the most memorable area tournament games ever played, a lasting image is Jimmy immediately running over to hug his grandparents at courtside after a quick celebration with the team.

"He was always at the home and away Willard games front and center with my grandma ready to go," Jimmy said. "That was really good, he's been my hero since I was a little kid.

"I had to write a paper in college about who your hero is and some people picked superheroes like Superman and Batman, but I took my grandpa. He was hard worker and I like to think I resemble him in that regard."