2023 Recruiting: Stephon Castle Commits to UConn

[seeya27]

Can't get it out of my head. A 6'7" point and 6'5" Corey Floyd at the 2. Floyd is so strong and Castle appears to be, as well. They will both be physical, fast, with plenty of speed. That backcourt will be a handful.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Can't get it out of my head. A 6'7" point and 6'5" Corey Floyd at the 2. Floyd is so strong and Castle appears to be, as well. They will both be physical, fast, with plenty of speed. That backcourt will be a handful.

Floyd is a generous 6'3" but we will definitely have a super talented backcourt with sool, floyd, and castle (maybe hawkins but I'm not holding my breath that he'll be here 3 yrs)

 

[Watchdog]

Gimme that tweet, Danny.

He can't comment until he signs and that may even include hints at a certain player.

 

[aburks41]

A 6’6” point guard will make this team be 2015 Kentucky levels of tall. Our team this year is already taller than 6 NBA teams…with Castle, Clingan, Samson, etc our team may be taller than any NBA team

 

[CL82]

Hahaha…That never gets old!

 

[Waquoit]

Why UConn?​

…they don’t pick favorites and they push everybody the same way so they can all reach their highest potential and I really liked that…

I really like that quote because it confirms my fanboy attitude toward this staff. Haven't seen this confirmed, Hurley's highest ranked recruit to date?

 

[Jre2000]

Waiting on ESPN to update so that the all-time composite rankings can be more accurate. As of now Akok is his highest rated recruit. But soon enough Castle will easily be his highest rated

I really like that quote because it confirms my fanboy attitude toward this staff. Haven't seen this confirmed, Hurley's highest ranked recruit to date?

 

[Mr. French]

Totally forgot this was happening tonight, just got out of work and saw this ... an AMAZING start to 2023. I am so excited for the next 3 years.

 

[auror]

Waiting on ESPN to update so that the all-time composite rankings can be more accurate. As of now Akok is his highest rated recruit. But soon enough Castle will easily be his highest rated

Yeah just by 247's own rank Akok is still higher, but Akok's composite got screwed up with his 2nd semester reclass so if you go by 247 composite it's actually Clingan at #42 then Hawkins at 51. But Castle's composite is screwed up because ESPN sucks and didn't evaluate him, or they thought he was worse than 60th in his class. Not sure which is less embarrassing. But by the time he enrolls in school, I think it's likely Castle will be the highest composite recruit Hurley has had... unless he recruits someone better for '23 by then.

 

[cordeodato]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

 

[CCSUblue]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

I mean....I hate to be the one that brings it up but the nose picker had a freshman in 2003 that led his team.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

Duke in 2015. Countless great teams have had elite freshman. Think about Suggs on Gonzaga just last year. Castle isn't going to be our only player lol

 

[SixRings]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

Castle is highly ranked no doubt but who said he was one and done? Everything he said was that he wants to be a pro but didn’t give a timetable, unless I missed something.

 

[storrsroars]

Hurley said he thinks Castle is one and done. It's quoted right here in this thread.

 

[pepband99]

 

[Husky Alien]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

You surround the one and done, if they materialize with your 2, 3 and 4 year players. I very highly doubt that this will be the norm of all 4 and 5 star players like the Kentucky's. When you get a player type like Castle you um hint, hint in this thread it becomes a domino effect. You get some of the best and better role players in the country that want to play on the same team with that player. One and done can be very useful if it's done right.

 

[husky99]

Hearing the staff thinks this is the tip of the iceberg. They are in overdrive

 

[WrenchFan69]

Hearing the staff thinks this is the tip of the iceberg. They are in overdrive

It's coming

 

[husky99]

-> “The environment, the coaching staff,” Castle told Hearst Connecticut Media of his reasons for choosing UConn. “They really made me feel like family.”

Castle was thought to be an Auburn lean prior to his official visit to Storrs two weeks ago. Associate head coach Kimani Young, the rest of the Huskies’ staff and Castle’s father, Stacey, arranged to have Castle’s grandmother, Ann James, surprise Stephon and his mother, Quannette, while on the visit. Stephon hadn’t seen James, who lives in New York, since before the pandemic hit in March, 2020.

“It was crazy,” Stephon told Hearst Connecticut Media after the visit. “I was shocked and happy to see her.”<-

-> “To me, it’s the small things, it’s all about relationships,” Quannette said shortly after the visit. “I just felt like that was very thoughtful for them to think ‘Hey, it’s his birthday. (They) live so far away and (they’re) right here in Connecticut. Let’s go ahead and try to bring his grandma there.’ It makes me feel like family. It’s definitely Stephon’s decision, (but) they are recruiting all of us.” <-

Word i hear was uconn was in the middle of the recruiting pack before this visit.... this visit was epic. Royal flush good.

 

[ucp990411]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

Those Kentucky teams had nothing but one and dones. We are going to have one to blend in with more experienced players. So your opinion is that we should not recruit the best players because they might be our best player for a year then leave?

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Duke in 2015. Countless great teams have had elite freshman. Think about Suggs on Gonzaga just last year. Castle isn't going to be our only player lol

Jeremy Lamb in ‘11 and Charlie V in ‘04 we’re also both integral freshman pieces to championship teams right here. Not one and done but the point remains.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

And the recruiting is making my mouth water. This is an amazing pickup, coming on top of Diggins-Hawkins-Johnson, and Clingan-Karaban. On a roll!

 

[tzznandrew]

Tell me about all the freshman who have lead their teams to an NCAA championship. Short list probably, Anthony Davis.
. How’s has Calipari done with his strategy of all star freshman recruits? How many championships,one . If a kid is a freshman and thinks for sure he is going to the NBA how does that affect his one year in college. Just not a fan of one and done. If a championship is the goal a team lead by one and done is not the answer.

Again, let's just consider what Calipari has done:

2010: Elite 8
2011: Final Four
2012: Champion
2013: NIT
2014: Runner-up
2015: Final Four
2016: Second Round
2017: Elite 8
2018: Sweet 16
2019: Elite 8
2020: Cancelled...but 25-6 and likely headed for something like a 3-5 seed
2021: disaster

So, in Calipari's time he almost went to as many Final Fours as UConn has in its entire run, and he went to 7 E8s. It is a very good run, and a Shabazz or disciplined Wisconsin team away from a few titles.

Titles are hard. You want to win some when you can, but it's clear Kentucky has had the talent and kept itself in the picture for the last decade. That's the goal. Talent—especially talent that can leave very quickly—mixed with veteran play, is the way to win. We won in 2011 and 2014 with the best player in the country.

 

[Phoenixhusky]

This staff kills it on the recruiting trail. I cannot wait to see who is next in 23.

 

[businesslawyer]

I do get the point. Kentucky has shown that it’s extremely difficult to win championships if you’re building teams around the very top players in their class who walk onto a college campus looking to get off of it and make money as quickly as possible. And it’s only true generational talents who as fresh will be able to lead teams to a championship. But:

1. I still think folks are giving too much importance to rankings, but most players who are the 26th best players in their class are not going pro after one year.

2. If the player is good enough, and is focused on contributing to the team while here, even if they don’t lead us to championships they should make the team better while here.

3. As others have shown, A player looking to move on after one year can still make a team of otherwise experienced players better. It requires good coaching to not evolve into a Drummond like situation where one player coming here to be a one and done triggers other players to be more concerned about their individual careers then winning, but this staff deserves our trust that they can handle this.

So does it matter than he’s 26th instead of 41st. Of course not. Those are both numbers that tell you the kids are projected to be future pros without being guaranteed important NBA players. But this was a good thing, and it reflects well on our staff that they were able to push the right buttons and make it happen.