Moon grad gets his wish by walking on at RMU
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Moon Area boys basketball coach Adam Kaufman had two starting seniors on last year’s WPIAL Class 5A championshipsquad.
One was Jarrod Simmons, a 6-foot-7, do-it-all extraordinaire who posted 22 points, 21 rebounds, 8 blocks, 3 assists and 2 steals in the title game againstHampton.
The other senior was almost a foot shorter but was arguably the team’s best player under certain circumstances. Nick Castelveter was the second-leading scorer and an emotional leader, with numerousbig baskets during the playoffrun.
Castelveterdidn’t garner as much attention as Simmons, who committed to Penn. The path to Division I basketball is generally tougher for smaller guards. Instead of accepting one of his numerous Division II or III scholarship offers, Castelveter decided to stay homeat Robert Morris.
He reached out to Colonials coach Andy Toole over the summer, and Toole has been impressedwith his work ethic and commitment to the school.
“Nick came up, stopped by the office, introduced himself, told us he wanted to try, work and find his way to Division I,” Toole said. “He certainly works as hard as anyone on the team and has a great attitude every day and is getting betterand we love having him around. He’s been a good addition.”
He officially became a walk-on around mid-August, Castelvetersaid.
“I always watched Robert Morris basketball,” the 5-11 Castelveter said recently. “There was toughness. There was grit. It was just a winning program. I thought to myself coming out of this high school season that I wanted a challenge. I couldn’t really settle with D-II. I just needed something that I felt was up to my expectations and really fit me well. [Toole’s] program is somethingspecial.”
Kaufman put in a good word for Castelveter. Kaufman coached Castelveter for three years and witnessed his transformation as a leader anda go-to option on offense.
“He was everything you would want out of your senior,” Kaufman said. “When we needed big baskets he was ready to step up, when we needed a big stop he was the team’s best player. Constantly being vocal, helping the young guys. Because we also started three sophomores last year, so him and Jarrod were the only seniors with three sophomoreson the floor. They really had to step up and take a leadership role and make sureguys were doing the right thing on and off the court. He washuge, he kept it together.”
For Castelveter, the decision to forgo a scholarship to stay home goes deeper than an opportunity to play Division I. He watched Duane Compo and A.Q. Shipley help leadMoon Area to the school’s first PIAA title in 2004. He also witnessed Dan Walsh lead the Tigers to back-to-back WPIAL championships in 2005 and 2006.
Castelveter also accomplished his goal of delivering a WPIAL title to his hometown. Now he wants to help take Robert Morris to the top of Northeast Conference and the NCAAtournament.
“I know from growing up here, Moon thrives off of Robert Morris basketball,” Castelveter said. “Any type of success that they have is success for Moon. It puts our town on the map, and everything that I’m trying to achieveis for them. I love it.”