Former UConn Guard Praised By Gregg Popovich: 'I'm Very Impressed'
A former UConn Huskies star is impressing his new head coach in the NBA.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle is mere months removed from winning a national title under Dan Hurley. Now, Castle is playing for arguably the greatest NBA coach of all time, Gregg Popovich.
Popovich is happy with what he’s seeing out of Castle thus far, which supports the theory that Castle could start for the Spurs this season. The legendary Coach Pop had some nice things to say about Castle in a recent interview, per FanSided’s Josh Paredes.
"I'm very impressed,” Popovich said, per Paredes. “Really mature young man. Has a great demeanor. Good basketball IQ. He's strong. He learns quickly. He's a good one. He can play 1, 2, or 3 right now."
Castle was selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, becoming just the second one-and-done lottery pick in the history of the Huskies program. Andre Drummond was the first, selected at No. 9 overall by the Detroit Pistons in 2012.
Castle was a central catalyst for UConn’s most recent national championship, scoring 21 points in the Huskies’ national semifinal win over Alabama and 15 points in the national championship win over Purdue.
Castle averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game for the Huskies in 2023-24 and was Hurley’s best perimeter defender all season long.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org