Michigan State basketball's Joshua Langford won't pursue pro career

Joshua Langford's is ending his career.

After a strong return from two major surgeries on his left foot, the former Michigan State basketball guard and five-star high school prospect announced his retirement from the sport Monday on Instagram.

"Although it will be new to me, I am excited for the next part of my race," Langford said in a long statement. "I would also want to encourage others to see that you have much more in you than what you do right now. Do not allow what you do to define who you are because it doesn’t. We all have many hats that we can wear. You don’t have to be afraid of taking new steps that others may not think you should take.

"Sometimes people’s expectations and demands on us can be a gravitational pull, that will cause us to stay in our comfort zones. You don’t have to live in a box that is built by what culture and other people say you should do. That doesn’t mean you don’t listen, but it does mean that you don’t limit yourself. Don’t even let yourself stop you from taking new steps. The feeling of fear isn’t always an indicator that you shouldn’t, sometimes the feeling of fear is an indicator that you should. I encourage you all to just go for it. We all have been uniquely designed to do unique things. So go for it."

A member of coach Tom Izzo's vaunted 2016 recruiting class along with Miles Bridges, Nick Ward and Cassius Winston, the 6-foot-5, 200-pound native of Birmingham, Alabama, played in his first 83 games as a Spartan. He started 62 of those during his first three seasons before suffering a stress reaction in his left foot Dec. 29, 2018 against Northern Illinois that ended his junior season during MSU's 2019 Final Four run. Langford attempted to return in the summer of 2019, but a similar injury in a different part of his same foot necessitated a second surgery in December 2019 that ended his fourth season before he could play.

FROM SEPT.: How Joshua Langford became MSU's backbone after two years of 'trauma'

Langford came back strong this winter and averaged 28.1 minutes while playing all but one game this season. showed flashes of his former self. The three-time captain averaged 9.7 points a game, tied with Joey Hauser for second on the Spartans, and included 14 double-digit performances and a season-high 18 against Nebraska on Feb. 6. Langford grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds in MSU’s upset of No. 5 Illinois and averaged 3.6 for the season from his shooting guard spot. His 35 3-pointers were a team high, and he shot 34.3% from behind the arc that moved back 1 foot and 10 3/4 inches while he was out with his foot injuries.

However, the one-time impenetrable perimeter defensive player's lateral quickness was not the same as it was before his two surgeries. And at 24 years old with the history of foot issues, the prospect of a shot at the NBA dwindled from the trajectory he was on during the early portion of the 2018-19 season before he got hurt.

"There is so much that I can say about my journey here at Michigan State that I could be writing for days," Langford said. "If I had to condense everything down it would be in this one proverb that says, “many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s will that will prevail.

"My college experience wasn’t what I imagined it to be, but it exceeded all of my expectations and I wouldn’t change it for anything. It has been a tremendous honor to be a part of Michigan State and I will forever be a Spartan. I will forever be grateful for my coaches, teammates, Spartan Nation, friends, professors, and all the other relationships in East Lansing that I have built throughout my years of being here. I would also like to thank my parents, sister, girlfriend, and pastors for supporting me as well. This journey with the game of basketball has been amazing and despite the hardships I have faced, they have made me better."

Langford said after MSU's loss to UCLA in the NCAA tournament on March 18 that he played his final college basketball game, even though he could have returned to the Spartans in 2021-22 for a sixth season that would not have counted against MSU’s 13 scholarship limit.

Langford also contracted COVID-19 in early January, which led to the Spartans taking a 20-day hiatus between games. Yet he played 30-plus minutes in nine of their 16 games after his return, including eight of the final 10.

“Unbelievable year,” Izzo said after the Spartans' loss to UCLA. “I mean, the kid gave me every single thing he had. And I think it's too bad he had to go out that way, because I thought we were a good enough team to win it. …

“He gave us so much. He bounced back and did so many things. It was damn near incredible the effort he put forth to come back and play after nobody gave him a chance to ever play.”

Langford finished his five-year MSU career with 1,109 points, which ranks tied for 43rd in MSU history with Al Ferrari (1952-55).

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball's Joshua Langford retires, won't pursue pros