He played basketball, baseball and football in high school. Long was a 2001 Flint, Michigan All-Metro League lineman on both sides of the ball as a defensive end and offensive lineman. And in Lapeer East's final game of the 2001 season, Long rushed for three touchdowns. As a junior that football season, he was listed at , . In Long's first start as a varsity basketball player on December 4, 2001, he led all scorers although he only scored one first half point. That season, he helped lead Lapeer East to an unbeaten 14–0 Metro League record (17–3) overall as they prepared for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) tournament. It was the first unbeaten Metro League season by any team since 1989 and Lapeer East's first unbeaten season since 1980. Long was an All-Metro league first team selection, but his team lost in the 2002 Class A district semifinal on the road. By the end of the basketball season, he was listed at , . As a junior, he was a second-team All-Metro League baseball selection as an infielder. By the end of his junior year, he had already set the school home run record in baseball and was the fifth-ranked high school football prospect in the state of Michigan (future Michigan teammate and co-captain LaMarr Woodley was number one).