Stephon Javonte Castle (born November 1, 2004) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of ...

, winning a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in 2024. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2023 class. Castle was named the

NBA Rookie of the Year The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottlieb T ...

for the 2024–25 season.

Early life and high school career

Castle grew up in

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,192. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the Unite ...

and attended Newton High School. He averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game as a junior. He finished his senior year averaging 20.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, three steals and two blocks per game to carry the Rams to the Class 7A state quarterfinals. Castle was selected to play in the 2023 McDonald's All-American Boys Game during his senior year.

Recruiting

Castle was initially rated a four-star recruit by most recruiting services. On November 19, 2021, he committed to playing college basketball for

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

during his junior year over offers from Auburn,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. By the end of his senior year Castle had been re-rated as a five-star recruit.

College career

Castle enrolled at

in June 2023. He helped lead the UConn Huskies to win the 2024 NCAA National Championship. He declared for the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

on April 19, 2024.

Professional career

San Antonio Spurs (2024–present)

On June 26, 2024, Castle was selected with the fourth overall pick by the

in the

and on July 2, he signed with the Spurs. He made his

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

debut on July 6, putting up 12 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 97–65 loss to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

. Castle was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January 2025. On February 7, Castle put up a career-high 33 points in a 117–116 loss to the

. At the beginning of April, Stephon was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for March 2025. On April 29, 2025, Castle was announced the winner for the

award.

National team career

Castle played for the United States under-18 basketball team at the

2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship The 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship was an international under-18 basketball tournament that was held from 6 to 12 June 2022 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The twelfth edition of the biennial competition, this is also the qualify ...

. He averaged 5.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game as the United States won the gold medal.

Personal life

Castle is the son of Quannette and Stacey Castle. He has a younger sister, Staci, and an older brother, Quenton. Castle's father, Stacey, was a teammate with

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 19-year career with the San Antonio Sp ...

at Wake Forest during the 1993–94 season.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

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College

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References

External links

*
UConn Huskies bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, Stephon 2004 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Point guards San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards UConn Huskies men's basketball players