University of Connecticut Athletics
'Newcomers' Perfect Fit Among Soaring Huskies
3/29/2024 3:01:00โฏAM | Men's Basketball
By PHIL CHARDIS
Special to uconnhuskies.com
BOSTON โ Anyone watching the UConn men's basketball team for the first time could easily be fooled. Steph Castle? He must be a senior, with that calm demeanor no matter the chaos going on around him. Cam Spencer? The way he fits so seamlessly in the UConn offense, he obviously has played with these teammates for years.
The fact that both are in their first season with the Huskies is just another in the amazing array of head-shaking truths that surround this remarkable team that has established itself as one of the best in UConn's impressive basketball history -- reaching the Elite Eight for the 13th time with its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament victory, an 82-52 demolition of San Diego State. It is the 10th straight win for the 34-3 top-seeded Huskies, their 24th victory in their last 25 games and their 49th triumph in their last 54 games, dating back to Jan. 31, 2023.
Castle and Spencer weren't at UConn for the first 17 of those 54 games, but their impact since has been loud and clear. Quite simply, the Huskies would not be where they are without them โ not only because of the way they have performed on the court, but also the way they have assimilated into the UConn culture, without so much as a hiccup.
"It's helped me tremendously just to have guys around me who have done it before. They know what it takes," said Castle, the freshman who notched his first double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds against San Diego State. "They've filled me with a lot of confidence, knowing that I don't have to go out there are play mistake-free. There's not a lot of pressure on my shoulders to go get 25 or try to carry the team. I don't ever have to do that because I have guys like Tristen (Newton), AK (Alex Karaban), DC (Donovan Clingan), Cam (Spencer) โ I have guys like that around me. It's helped me to just play comfortable.
"I just try to do what I can offensively to help us win. I'm not coming up the court thinking, 'It's my turn now,' or anything like that. I try to get my buckets within the offense. I think we have the best offense in the country, so it would be selfish of me to just go jack up a shot. If that was the offense, we wouldn't be that be best offense in the country."
Clearly, no description of Castle's game could include the word "selfish." He is a five-star recruit and a McDonald's All-American without any of the usual bravado. Numerous times this season, UConn Coach Dan Hurley has given the credit to Castle's parents, Quannette and Stacey.
"He's the antithesis of how a lot of highly-recruited, five-star players come into college," Hurley said. "He was never concerned with NIL. It was about development. It was about getting into the right culture. It was about learning how to win, learning how to be successful, growing up, teaching him how to be a man. He allows for it to be about UConn because he has great parents and he understands that the world doesn't spin around him."
While Castle found UConn on the front end of his college career, Spencer found UConn on the back end, after already playing four years of college ball. It would be hard to believe, however, that any transfer found a better fit for his game and his personality than Spencer found with the Huskies. His 18 points against San Diego State led the Huskies in scoring for the ninth time this season and he added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in an impressive performance. He has made more clutch shots this season than any statistician could count, but like Castle, Spencer is all about team.
"The heart of our team is that we don't want this season to end," he said. "We think the only way this season should end is on April 8 with a championship, so that's what we're focused on."
Their statistics speak for themselves, especially in the Sweet 16 win, but the way that Castle and Spencer have fit so well with Newton, Karaban, Clingan, Hassan Diarra and Samson Johnson โ five players who have already made it to the highest point in college basketball โ speaks volumes about the UConn program as a whole.
Who are the UConn veterans here and who are the newcomers? The key to the Huskies' success is that it doesn't seem to matter.
