Growth Mindset

1/7/2019 6:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories

On and off the court, Javier Langarica is working tirelessly to reach his goals

By: Eric Detweiler

WHEN: Wednesday, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Smith Center
WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: WFED.com
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: GW | Dayton

ABOUT DAYTON: The Flyers opened A-10 play on Sunday with a 72-48 home win over Richmond, extending their winning streak to four games and improving their overall record to 9-5. Fifth-year senior Josh Cunningham leads four Flyers who average double-figure scoring with 16.8 ppg along with 6.2 rpg. Dayton comes in averaging 83.0 ppg in its four-game winning streak and for the season, leads the A-10 in field goal percentage (.513) while ranking second in scoring (75.3 ppg).

PROMOTION: GW welcomes back Capital City Go-Go General Manager, Olympian, former NBA player and Colonials basketball all-time great Pops Mensah-Bonsu ('06) to the Smith Center for Wednesday's Atlantic 10 home opener against Dayton. Festivities include a free commemorative poster, in-game interview, popcorn giveaway and much more. -->> TICKETS

Javier Langarica huffed and puffed and stole glances at the gym's clock between drills, trying to will the seconds to tick faster.

The first GW men's basketball workout of the summer in July 2017 was designed to test what kind of shape the Colonials were in on the other side of a six-week break.

Only Langarica was a skinny 17-year-old fresh off a plane from his native Spain. The young big man had never experienced anything like this before.

"He was physically gassed," assistant coach Hajj Turner remembered. "It looked like he was being pulled by a speedboat. He was just trying to hang on."

Looking back, Langarica can appreciate his inauspicious introduction to Division I college hoops. Those grueling 45 minutes helped confirm what he'd already suspected.

"I was super excited because I was making my dream come true, basically," Langarica said. "But I also knew it was going to be super hard."

That sentiment perfectly sums up Langarica's GW journey so far.

The sophomore forward had never visited the U.S. before he took the leap to leave his European homeland to chase his lofty basketball and academic goals halfway across the globe. Over the past year and a half, he's worked tirelessly to reach them.

Slowly but surely, Langarica has gotten more comfortable with life in Foggy Bottom.

He's gained confidence with his English as he tackles a heavy workload in the classroom in pursuit of a Systems Engineering degree with a minor in Business Administration.

After playing sparingly last season, Langarica has stepped into the starting role left by the injured Arnaldo Toro and emerged as a capable inside presence. He flashed his progress on both ends in the overtime win over American at Smith Center on Dec. 29, recording his first career double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in a career-high 34 minutes.

As Atlantic 10 play heats up, the industrious Spaniard aims to continue his development and become the latest in a lengthy line of international success stories for the Colonials, who have won three of their past four games entering Wednesday's conference home opener against Dayton.

"He's certainly grown, and I think he's only going to continue to get better," head coach Maurice Joseph said. "Because he cares about the game, and he puts the time into it to do things the right way. When you maintain those kinds of standards, the growth and development will take care of themselves."

The son of an engineer and a physician with a mutual love of hoops, Langarica credits his parents, Xavier and Begoña, with setting him on the path to making this all possible.

Raising their son in Bilbao on Spain's northern coast, the couple put a ball in his hands early and caught his attention with clips of Hakeem Olajuwon and Larry Bird when other youngsters were more focused on their homeland's soccer stars. They also instilled the importance of dreaming big beyond the hardwood.

"Even though I love basketball, they have always pushed me to have a good academic background," said Langarica, who is fluent in Spanish, French and English. "I'm always trying to work as best as I can in both perspectives."

Langarica's success on both accounts made him a perfect fit for GW.

After watching film and consulting with local scouts, Joseph extended a scholarship offer in the spring of 2017. The coach knew the big man would need seasoning, but he was impressed with his mix of size and skill.

"We were excited about what he could do for us," Joseph said. "We just had to have some patience."

Langarica's crash course began less than two months after his pledge to the Colonials.

He dove in academically in the summer of 2017 with courses in American History and Microeconomics, while he was getting used to the newfound physical rigors of the sport.

He appreciated how classmates Justin Mazzulla, Maceo Jack and Terry Nolan Jr. helped ease the transition by showing him around campus and answering his questions about the language, culture and anything else on his mind.

They were impressed by how quickly he adapted to a new environment and his positive attitude in the face of a difficult situation.

"It wasn't easy for him," Mazzulla said. "He has come a significant way. He's getting more comfortable now, and he knows how to be himself. It's been great to see."

Langarica's growth as a player hinged on getting physically and mentally stronger. He wasn't used to the physicality necessary to play inside in the Division I game. Daily battles with experienced big men like Patrick Steeves and Bo Zeigler showed how far he had to go.

The coaches challenged him to develop the strength and blue-collar attitude needed to have success in the post. They quickly found he had the mindset to handle such a tall task, understanding the importance of taking the long view with his development.

"He's a problem solver," Turner said. "He doesn't sit there and complain about how hard something is. He goes out and figures out how to do it."

For Langarica, that meant putting in the work to get his game on track by spending extra time in the weight room and on the court.

He drilled proper footwork around the basket until it became habit. At every chance possible, he practiced scoring through contact and grabbing rebounds in a crowd, often with a coach or manager providing the blow with a heavy football-style blocking pad.

Last season, Langarica added extra individual workouts with Turner on gamedays. Sometimes the pair would catch a bus ride to a road arena alone if the Colonials weren't using their morning walk-through.

"If we knew I wasn't going to play, at least I wouldn't waste that day," said Langarica, who played a total of 27 minutes in 10 games as a rookie. "I knew that was what I had to do if I wanted to improve."

Langarica's diligence has started to pay off this season. Joseph said the big man's jumps in athleticism and confidence were evident in summer workouts, and he's only continued to make strides.

Before GW's first road trip of the new season, Langarica asked Turner if they would meet for a gameday workout.

"You've graduated, dude," the assistant replied with a chuckle.

Indeed, GW needs Langarica to save his energy for the games. He started out the season as a solid complement off the bench before moving into the starting lineup after Toro went down with a season-ending hip injury.

Since then, Langarica has done his best to learn on the fly. He's flashed his promise but also shown there's work left to do.

"He's had to grow and experience things and take some bumps," Joseph said.

The highlights, such as a tough rebound in traffic and a pair of game-sealing free throws in a home win against Towson, provide Joseph excitement about what's to come. The learning moments might be even more thrilling.

Against American, Langarica had an early shot swatted at the rim, leading to a pep talk from his coach. A few minutes later, the big man took a feed from Mazzulla in a similar spot and powered to the rim for a dunk.

"I've learned you have to be focused 100 percent of the time," Langarica said. "You can't be thinking about any other thing at any point. You have to try all the time to do the best you can, and if you don't, something bad is going to happen."

With his mother in the crowd, Langarica went on to put together his best performance as a Colonial in the non-conference finale, showcasing an inside-out offensive game and the ability to protect the rim defensively.

"I try not to get too excited about it because it's one game and we want him to keep doing that, but it's hard not to stop and get a little emotional after that game," said Turner, who visited Langarica in Spain during his family vacation last summer. "If you look at where he came from, the sacrifices he made, the chances he took, it's pretty incredible to think about."

The guy who could barely complete a workout 18 months ago now has the skills to take over a game.

It's a testament to Langarica's work ethic and physical gifts that he's come so far so fast, but he sees it another way. He's grateful to have found a community far from home that continues to help him unlock that potential.

"It's been amazing for me here," Langarica said. "The university's an amazing place, and I also really like my team and my teammates. I'm just really happy for the Javier of two years ago that made the decision."