University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Recruit Castle Selected To McDonald's All-American Game
1/24/2023 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UConn's 12th McDonald's All-American
UConn Athletic Communications / Jan. 24, 2023
UConn basketball recruit Stephon Castle achieved one of the most prestigious honors for a high school senior on Tuesday when he was one of just 24 players named to the roster of the 2023 McDonald's All-American Game.
Castle, a 6-6 point guard from Covington, Ga., and Newton High School, has consistently been rated among the top 25 recruits in the country. He averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 rebounds last year as he led Newton to the Final Four of the GHSA playoffs. He then helped USA Basketball win the gold medal in the 2022 FIBA U18 America Championships. He becomes the 12th McDonald's All-American in UConn basketball history.
The 24 players selected, divided into East and West squads, will compete in the McDonald's All-American Game on March 28 at the Toyota Center in Houston (9 p.m., ESPN). Â
"Congrats to Steph and the Castle family," UConn Coach Dan Hurley said Tuesday. "He's had an incredible, highly-decorated high school career – USA Basketball and all the different achievements – and then to cap it off with McDonald's …."
Hurley learned of Castle's selection while the Huskies were at practice on Tuesday afternoon and hadn't yet had the chance to contact the Castle family.
"We'll do that right after we're finished here," Hurley said at the post-practice press conference. "We'll get him on a face time and celebrate. What an addition he's going to be. I'm just excited to be able to coach a kid like that because you're hired to do a job with Stacey and Quan's son and they are going to let us do the job every day."
Castle is Hurley's first McDonald's All-American recruit. Not only is the selection prestigious for Castle, but for the UConn program as well.
"It's a validation of where your program is," Hurley said. "And why they made the decision (to pick UConn) and also what the decision is based on is something you're proud of. It raises the bar and it's important that a program continue to raise the bar."
Castle was the first of the 2023-24 freshman class to commit to UConn, followed by four other top-level recruits – Jayden Ross, Solomon Ball, Jaylin Stewart, and Youssouf Singare – giving the Huskies a consensus Top Five recruiting class.
Castle joins 11 other players in UConn history who were picked as McDonald's All-Americans. The complete list:
1978-Corny Thompson
1991-Donyell Marshall
1996-Richard Hamilton
1997-Khalid El-Amin
2000-Taliek Brown, Scott Hazelton
2003-Charlie Villanueva
2004-Rudy Gay
2008-Kemba Walker
2009-Alex Oriakhi
2016-Alterique Gilbert
2023-Stephon Castle      Â
