Two decades ago, Crystal Langhorne was making Willingboro High School history. Now, the school gym is named after her.

When Crystal Langhorne developed an interest in basketball in junior high, her brothers had to convince her parents to let her play.

Deeply religious, her parents were reluctant to let Langhorne miss church on Sundays to play for the AAU’s Boro Blitz in addition to games for Willingboro’s Memorial Middle School. They stressed education before athletics.

“They would try to get me to play. I said, ‘No, I had to go to church,’ ” Langhorne recalled.

Eventually, her older brother, Cryhten, called a family meeting and begged their parents to change their minds. It was a life-changing decision for Crystal that catapulted her to the world stage professionally.

At Willingboro High School, Crystal led the Chimeras to three South Jersey Group 3 championships and became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,776 career points. She played varsity all four seasons from 2000 to 2004.

Langhorne’s record remains unmatched by any player, male or female, said athletic director Leon Owen, who added that she is the most-decorated basketball player in school history.

“No one has come close,” Owen said.

In recognition of Langhorne’s accomplishments, the South Jersey district named the high school gymnasium in her honor at a ceremony and pep rally to kick off the 2023-24 basketball season Wednesday night. The gym had been unnamed since the school opened in 1975.

Langhorne was hailed by a marching band, cheerleaders, and about 200 people in the gym, which was decorated in red and blue balloons, the school colors. A temporary sign was erected in the foyer, and her name was painted in black script on the shiny court.

”I am Willingboro,” Langhorne said. “This is my home. It always will be.”

School board member Mike Bird pushed the renaming idea after the district recently renovated the gym. The district replaced the antiquated rubber floor with wood, installed a new sound system, and upgraded the HVAC system.

Two other facilities at the high school bear the names of other hometown heroes: Carl Lewis Stadium (track legends Carl and Carol Lewis attended Willingboro), and the football stadium, which is named for former New York Giants linebacker Shaun Phillips. Bird said he wanted Langhorne recognized for her accomplishments in basketball.

After a standout career at Maryland, Langhorne was drafted sixth overall by the Washington Mystics in 2008 and spent 13 seasons in the WNBA, averaging 10.9 points and 6.0 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm before retiring in 2020. She also played overseas for 10 years and won the EuroCup championship in 2013 with Dynamo Moscow.

She traces her success to Willingboro, a suburban community of about 30,000. Her parents, immigrants from Guyana, moved the family there when she was a toddler. She especially credits her former coach, Guy Fowler, who began scouting her as an eighth-grader.

“Your hometown really shapes who you are,” said Langhorne, 37, who lives in Washington, D.C. “I am who I am because of Willingboro.”

Langhorne began playing basketball partly at the urging of her older brothers, Cryhten and Chris. Both went on to play Division I basketball and would drag her to the court, often to play against guys. She was about 5-foot-10 in junior high and they saw her potential, Cryhten said.

Back then, Crystal was considering a career in forensics or marketing. Then she realized basketball could provide a way to pay for college education.

She developed a work ethic that would last throughout her professional career. Fowler said she was easy to coach, arrived at practice early, and often stayed long after a two-hour practice to work on her game. She was able to “step and dice between players” and stay healthy despite bumps and bruises. And along with the Chimeras and Boro Blitz, Langhorne played for the Philadelphia Belles and was the MVP of the 2003 AAU championship, which the Belles won.

“My sister worked her butt off,” said Cryhten, an environmental science teacher at Winslow Township High School. “She played hard every game.”

Fowler specifically recalled the 2003 South Jersey Group 3 championship against Camden’s Woodrow Wilson High School. Willingboro focused on its passing game to thwart Wilson’s game plan against Langhorne. It paid off, and Langhorne scored 47 points to help secure the crown.

Fowler said he pushed Langhorne, often double- and triple-teamed, to score at least 30 points per game and pull down 16 rebounds. Willingboro typically beat opponents by 30 points, even with Langhorne sitting out the fourth quarter.

“She probably could have had 3,500 points if I had put the pedal to the metal,” Fowler added. “She had the drive.”

Highly recruited by colleges around the country, Langhorne picked head coach Brenda Frese’s Maryland squad and helped lead the Terrapins to a national championship in 2006 as a sophomore.

Langhorne, a three-time All-American, was the first men’s or women’s Maryland player with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds and was the first to have her number raised to the rafters while still active. Still the Terps all-time leading scorer and rebounder, she was inducted into the Washington DC Metro Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this year.

During the last year of her professional career, Langhorne and her Storm teammates pushed the team to create the Force4Change, a social justice platform spawned by the Black Lives Matter movement. She now works remotely in the Storm’s front office heading that platform focusing on voter registration and issues affecting the LGBTQ and underserved communities.

Langhorne said she rarely gets back to Willingboro since her parents relocated to North Carolina. She spoke to the girls’ basketball team about a decade ago and plans to return every summer to run a basketball camp for girls. She hopes playing in the gym with her name will inspire the next generation.

“I don’t know how many facilities are named after Black women,” she said. “It’s overwhelming when you really think about it. It’s extremely important for girls to see this. It really shows you what is possible.”