The Athletic - Stephon Castle #1 frosh

[BRS24]

Top 20 college basketball freshmen for 2023-24: Stephon Castle, Isaiah Collier and more

Yes, it's behind The Athletic paywall. Right now, if you have a NYT scrip, they are offering an add-on for this, and sometimes the games and recipes. If you only want to read this article and a few more, I have a few 30 day passes that I am happy to share. DM me if interested.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

backdoor

 

[husky429]

Well-deserved. Castle has been improving faster than anyone the past 2 years. If he can shoot 35% from deep, he's a top-5 pick IMO.

 

[NJHoops]

Kind of wild to consider that he committed way back in November, 2021. So much has happened since then.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The list is a little odd IMO. Maybe they were trying to go with some sleepers, but Justin Edwards, DJ Wagner, Cadeau, etc should be higher up imo.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Kind of wild to consider that he committed way back in November, 2021. So much has happened since then.

And at the time he was ranked about 40th.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

And at the time he was ranked about 40th.

Confirmed. I love how this staff targers risers.

 

[superjohn]

The list is a little odd IMO. Maybe they were trying to go with some sleepers, but Justin Edwards, DJ Wagner, Cadeau, etc should be higher up imo.

I'm not a big fan of DJ Wagner's game. He reminds me of a skinnier slightly less explosive version of his dad. I might be a bit biased because I never liked his dad's game but the son strikes me as another ball dominant smallish high volume low percentage scorer. I think he's one of those guys who was so much better than everyone at a young age and the other players catch up to him with some passing him. Similar to his dad.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I'm not a big fan of DJ Wagner's game. He reminds me of a skinnier slightly less explosive version of his dad. I might be a bit biased because I never liked his dad's game but the son strikes me as another ball dominant smallish high volume low percentage scorer. I think he's one of those guys who was so much better than everyone at a young age and the other players catch up to him with some passing him. Similar to his dad.

I’ve watched him a few times. Definitely less explosive, but he has significantly higher PG/lead guard skills. He’s certainly not as much of a chucker as his pops. But he doesn’t have as much of the scoring upside. I think he’s gonna be very good.

 

[Thunderbird]

And at the time he was ranked about 40th.

I was told at the time that Reed Sheppard was better than him by UK fans

 

[HooperScooper]

“We’re super close, that’s probably been my biggest mentor since I’ve been here. Just learning the game, picking his brain on some stuff. He’s an older guy so it’s been easy to pick his brain,” Castle said. “Probably the biggest piece (of advice) is just staying composed. If you watch Tristen you can see how composed he is on the court, he never gets rattled. Just being able to read defenses, he knows that I can read the defense so just staying composed has been the main thing that he’s given me.”

Touted freshman Stephon Castle eager to learn from UConn’s veterans

Stephon Castle, projected to be an NBA lottery pick before playing a game with the UConn men’s basketball team, has been eager to learn from the returning national champs.

www.courant.com

Alternate access:
Touted freshman Stephon Castle eager to learn from UConn’s veterans

 

[caw]

Confirmed. I love how this staff targers risers.

View attachment 92279

For the other four:
Solo Ball committed 7/1/22. Was around 88th, ended at 44, peaked at 33
Jaylin Stewart committed 9/16/2022. Was around 79th, ended at 56, peaked at 50
Jayden Ross committed 6/27/2022. Was around 136th, ended at 113, peaked at 105
Youssef Singare committed 9/21/2022. Was around 120 (Just jumped from 185 the rating before) ended at 139, peaked at 119

So only Singare dropped from when they committed and he had just made a huge jump, so there was some correction.

For the two from 2024, Nowell is moving up steadily since his commit (he also made a pretty big jump right before he committed from around 45 to 36). Abraham actually had a pretty big drop on 247 (from around 50-60 to mid-70's) and has been pretty steady since.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

“We’re super close, that’s probably been my biggest mentor since I’ve been here. Just learning the game, picking his brain on some stuff. He’s an older guy so it’s been easy to pick his brain,” Castle said. “Probably the biggest piece (of advice) is just staying composed. If you watch Tristen you can see how composed he is on the court, he never gets rattled. Just being able to read defenses, he knows that I can read the defense so just staying composed has been the main thing that he’s given me.”

Touted freshman Stephon Castle eager to learn from UConn’s veterans

Stephon Castle, projected to be an NBA lottery pick before playing a game with the UConn men’s basketball team, has been eager to learn from the returning national champs.

www.courant.com

Alternate access:
Touted freshman Stephon Castle eager to learn from UConn’s veterans

I heard steph speak a few times, but in smaller bursts. This was a 10 min interview, and he had some great answers to the questions. I liked hearing him talk about how he wants passing to be the main part of his game, along with grabbing rebounds and starting the break.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I heard steph speak a few times, but in smaller bursts. This was a 10 min interview, and he had some great answers to the questions. I liked hearing him talk about how he wants passing to be the main part of his game, along with grabbing rebounds and starting the break.

Think his game will be a lot like SGA… can score when he wants and be the best player on the court. But can be a great playmaker still to go with it. Which the scoring should help him do.

 

[PNolanFan]

I keep coming back to Cade Cunningham when watching and reading about Castle. Cant wait to see him play but I really do think he has all american this potential

 

[HuskyBaggins]

Top 20 college basketball freshmen for 2023-24: Stephon Castle, Isaiah Collier and more

Yes, it's behind The Athletic paywall. ...

There is no such thing: https://archive.ph/Jm4w3

 

[August_West]

There is no such thing: https://archive.ph/Jm4w3

lives!