Peaking with confidence, Stephon Castle is eager to hear his name called early in NBA Draft

NEW YORK – A day before the first round of the NBA Draft, Stephon Castle has never had more confidence in himself.Just over 24 hours from hearing his name called,likely somewhere in the lottery, Castle remains quiet and humble. But he knows how good he is – and, more importantly, how good he can be.Castle sat in the Villard Ballroom at the Manhattan Lotte New York Palace hotel on Tuesday with other green room invitees, his table about five feet away from former UConn teammate Donovan Clingan, who’d drawn quite the crowd of reporters and cameras as the potential No. 1 pick. Castle received plenty of attention himself, answering a battering of questions by bringing up the common theme of hard work and self-confidence, gratitude as well.“Attack it with confidence,” was the advice UConn coach Dan Hurley gave him.“(The UConn coaches) instilled a lot of confidence in me as a player, and as a person, for my future. They did it a lot for me while I was there at UConn and you’re seeing the results. Now I’m a national champion,” said Castle, who came to UConn to be pushed, developed.“There really wasn’t much for us to do out there in Connecticut besides work and play basketball.”Very soon “work” and “play basketball” will be one in the same.Some mock drafts project Castle as high as No. 4 overall to the San Antonio Spurs, where 7-foot-4 phenom Victor Wembanyama would be his new Clingan, others at No. 6 to the Charlotte Hornets, where he’d team up with LaMelo Ball in the backcourt. As a defense-first playmaker, he’s heard player comparisons to the likes of the Celtics’ Jrue Holiday, a two-time NBA champion, and Golden State’s Andre Iguodala, four-time champ – “If (you’re) comparing me to an NBA champion, I’ll take it,” he said.Asked to come up with a comparison for himself, Castle mentioned Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Similar in size, Gilgeous-Alexander was second to Denver’s Nikola Jokic in MVP voting and seventh in the race for Defensive Player of the Year this past season.It has been widely reported that Castle did not work out for teams that have a point guard already in place. He views himself playing that position at the next level.Castle was great at the point in high school but, of course, UConn already had Tristen Newton – a national champion and now an All-American, potentially a second round pick in this draft – in that spot. So Castle accepted more of an off-ball role with the Huskies and made the most of it. Once he got comfortable, he became one of the best perimeter defenders in the nation and, while the numbers may not speak to it as much, he continued to grow as a shot-maker. His playmaking ability and basketball IQ were there the whole time.Why so adamant about his position now?“Just really self-confidence in my abilities,” he said. “Me and my camp, we feel like I’ve been that pretty much my whole career. My time at UConn, I feel like that helped me just unlock a lot of other things off the ball and show my versatility a lot. Just speaking on my career now, I feel like just betting on myself really is (what I want to do).”In his mind, Castle’s best game of the year – one that scouts have definitely seen – came in Gampel Pavilion against Providence and fellow potential lottery pick Devin Carter, another defensive-minded guard. With points hard to come by in a very physical game between regional rivals, Castle was steady on the offensive end for the Huskies. He finished with what was at the time a career-high 20 points (7-for-14 from the field, 2-for-4 from 3), plus a steal and five rebounds. Castle had 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals when the teams met again in Providence.Carter, voted Big East Player of the Year by league coaches, also received a green room invite and is projected to be picked later in the lottery. He provided The Courant with a scouting report on Castle:“He’s very athletic. He has a very high IQ for the game, especially being a freshman,” Carter said. “I think he’s a great player, very quick first step – that’s what a lot of people underestimate about him. His first step on defense is what makes him so hard to go around and stuff, he’s also very strong. Just a good defender. I was trying to figure out ways to score, Coach, we put in different plays to try to get open.”Offensively, Castle has the mechanics and believes he will improve from the 26.7% he shot from 3-point range in his lone year at UConn.“What’s impressive is, he’s a 6-7 point guard who can read the game and read the floor. Also just his defensive instincts and his physicality as a guard, that’s what’s impressive to me. He’s a really good player. My guy,” said Matas Buzelis, another potential top-five pick who was Castle’s roommate for the 2023 McDonald’s High School All-America game.When the media availability concluded, Castle and Clingan made sure to cross paths on their way out, gave each other a fist bump and took a photo together. There is a chance, with San Antonio reportedly interested in both and holding the No. 4 and No. 8 picks, that the duo could stick together.Either way, their NBA careers will be off to a good start.“It’s a blessing to go through (this) with somebody that I went to war with every day just a couple of months ago,” Castle said. “I know how much he’s been through, he knows how much I’ve been through. That’s like my brother. Just to be here with him, during this process, it’s a blessing.”

Buy cryptocurrency

Source link

Refer And Earn Demat Account – Get ₹300 | Referral Program

Open Demat Account In Angel One For FREE