Stephon Castle

Castle went to Newton High School in Covington, GA where he averaged 20.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in his senior year, and was selected to play in the 2023 McDonald's All-American game. He impressed scouts enough to be upgraded from a four-star recruit to a five-star recruit. Castle also played at the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship for USA's under-18 basketball team, averaging 5.5 points and 2.2 rebounds en route to winning a gold medal. At UConn, Castle was named Big East Freshman of the Year behind averages of 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 27.0 minutes. The Huskies won the 2024 NCAA Tournament where Castle scored a combined 36 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals in the final two games of the tournament. A sturdy 6-foot-6 guard/wing, Castle can use his physicality and change of pace to create offensive advantages and finish at the rim. He's shown a nice passing ability, and he's a tough defender. However, his shooting is a project. Castle went 20-for-75 (27%) from deep, and his 83-for-110 (76%) efficiency from the charity stripe is acceptable. Defenses routinely played far off him, daring him to launch from deep. Castle's ultimate ceiling will depend greatly on his ability to develop a perimeter shot. Ideally, he could go to a system using a floor-spacing five to minimize his weakness in that area. Overall, Castle should be able to impact the game physically on both ends of the floor, getting his teammates involved on offense and tiring out the opposing team's best guard/wing on the other end. Castle's all-around skillset combined with a poor jumper is reminiscent of the Thompson twins in last year's draft, but he's not as elite of an athlete as Amen and Ausar.