Castle doesn’t need to be king of UConn
BOSTON — In recruiting Stephon Castle, a lot of things stood out to Dan Hurley.
His athleticism. His overall skill set. And his incredibly high upside.
There was also his support system, notably his mother, Quannette, and father, Stacey.
“I saw his parents. I saw them rip his you know what, multiple times,” Hurley said. “His parents aren’t fans. They hold him accountable and responsible to have an elite work ethic and be coachable and not think that the world spins around him at 17, 18 years old.”
The 6-foot-6 Castle, a top-10 prospect coming out of Covington, Ga., certainly doesn’t have the me-first qualities of a lot of elite prospects. The well-rounded freshman guard opted to join a winning program with established veterans at Connecticut, rather than go somewhere where he would put up monster numbers right away. With the Huskies, he’s a defender first and scorer second, helping the top-seeded Huskies reach the Elite Eight. He’s rarely the first-, second- or even third-scoring option. It hasn’t hurt his NBA draft stock, though. Castle is still a projected lottery pick, and he’s playing his best at the right time.
Thursday night, he produced the first double-double of his career, notching 16 points and 11 rebounds in the top-seeded Huskies’ 82-52 rout of No. 5-seed San Diego State at TD Garden. That came after he locked down ninth-seeded Northwestern star guard Boo Buie in a second-round victory.
“It’s not really a selfish culture,” said Castle, who is averaging 12.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three tournament games. “It really wasn’t for me to come in and really think about my own stats or think about how well I played. It was just doing whatever I can to come in and help the team win, and I feel like everybody else had the same kind of approach. If you stand out and try to be selfish, you’ll stand out for the wrong reason.”
By buying in and excelling at his role, Castle will experience the best of both worlds. He could become a national champion as a freshman and still get drafted high. There is obviously a lot more to his game than he has shown so far as a Husky. But he’s also displayed the ability to work well with elite teammates, which NBA teams will no doubt appreciate and value. His parents have been vital in getting him to understand that as well.
“Other parents, when they see their kids, they want the best for them, but they want them to take every shot and be the star on the team,” Castle said. “They’ve been real with me my whole life. They don’t sugarcoat anything for me. They push me to work hard, and they’ve been unbelievable supporters.”