Freshman point guard Stephon Castle came to the UConn men’s basketball program known as a high-level facilitator who can pass the ball and score with his size and athleticism.
That, for the most part, is expected to be his role with the Huskies this year as he’s surrounded by veteran shooters and finishers. Coach Dan Hurley said last week that Castle’s impact will be similar to what Andre Jackson Jr. brought last season in terms of bringing down rebounds and starting the transition, where he can find driving lanes or open shooters.
Castle understands his expected role and calls his situation “a blessing.” At the same time, he’s continually working on expanding his game to become a more effective and efficient three-level scorer. Over the last year Castle has worked on the consistency of his 3-point shot and, since he’s been in Storrs, he’s sought out pointers from emerging leader Alex Karaban.
“Every day (I’ve been) working with Alex, I feel like he’s one of the best shooters in the country so, I mean, for a guy like me that’s second nature to gravitate toward a guy like that with that much shooting. Just staying composed is the biggest thing,” Castle said Thursday.
The tips he gets from Karaban, who shot 40.2% from beyond the arc as a redshirt freshman starter last season, aren’t about mechanics — Castle has those down, but knowing when to shoot it.
“It’s more like staying within what I can do well. Alex, he’ll come off down screens, stuff like that. What he tells me is ‘Shoot the right shot,’ ” Castle said. “If I see him, of course I’m going to pass it but just taking those shots and if you were in practice today you would see that he’s one of our best shooters, so just learning from him has been the best thing for sure.”
Castle has also taken notes from Tristen Newton, the Huskies’ returning point guard whose season was highlighted by two triple-doubles and a 19-point, 10-rebound performance in the national championship game. Those two, both bigger guards, are expected to spend plenty of time together in the backcourt.
“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.”
Castle comes in as a McDonald’s All-American, a projected lottery pick before he’s even stepped onto the floor for a game with the defending national champions.
“Normally that would be a big fear for any freshman, but I mean with the guys that we have, that takes so much off of my chest that I can trust them to help me and uplift my game. Playing with the guys that we have is just going make me look so much better,” Castle said.
“I feel like the role that I have here, it complements my game very well. And with the coaching that we have it’s even uplifted my defense a lot so I feel like I’ve definitely changed as a player from high school for sure.”
Clingan returns for limited on-court work
UConn’s Donovan Clingan, the 7-foot-2 center who Hurley says may have grown to 7-3, is cautiously working his way back from a foot strain he suffered in practice in September. The goal is to have him back in time for the Nov. 6 season-opener, but the staff insists they will wait on the doctors and not rush him back.
Clingan has reached the next level in his return, which has included some on-court work.
“He’s in here shooting, shooting jump hooks and he’s doing things on the court now,” Hurley said Thursday. “It’s the next step in his protocol … we want to make sure he’s healthy for the long haul. But he’s progressing, he’s told me what date he’ll be back in his first practice.”
Hurley wouldn’t reveal the date Clingan gave him.
UConn has a target regardless of ranking
The defending national champs enter the season ranked No. 6 in the AP preseason poll, but, for Hurley, it doesn’t matter.
“We have the bigger target because we won it last year and then we’ve got some players like Donovan and Steph who’ve got huge targets on them because they’re mocking in lottery, so obviously players are going to be gunning for them. I mean, we were the most successful team in the country last year, everyone dreams of winning a national championship,” he said. “When you’re at UConn it doesn’t matter whether you’re ranked first or unranked — it’s probably worse if you’re unranked because of the history of the place.”
UConn entered last season unranked and Hurley used it as a chip on his shoulder; he’ll find a new motivation this season.
“It really doesn’t matter because the standards are so high,” Hurley said. “Some coaches are like, ‘I don’t want to be ranked that high, it’s too much preseason pressure.’ If you’re coaching at like five schools in the country in college basketball, it’s a pressure cooker no matter what. So it’s like, just rank me No. 1. I’d rather be No. 1 to be honest with you than No. 6 because it doesn’t matter.”
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