Stephon Castle has been owning big moments since his Georgia high school days
Stephon Castle has displayed the same competitiveness on the basketball court since he first arrived at Newton High School as a freshman in 2019.
Coming off the bench for the Rams, Castle wasn’t afraid to go at his opponent’s best player. He regularly stepped back for a corner 3 and expected all of his shots to go in.
Against Grayson, whose loss to Newton was their only regular season loss that year, Castle made multiple catch-and-shoot 3’s in the 84-80 win. It was Castle’s seventh game as a high schooler and he was playing alongside future Division I players on a team that would make the GHSA playoff quarterfinals.
He was unfazed.
“He didn’t start as a freshman like a lot of these kids that have been starting since Day 1. He didn’t,” said Charlemagne Gibbons, who coached Newton from 2019 to 2023. “We had a really good team his freshman year, and so he came off the bench and really battled every day for playing time. I mean, there were probably four or five, six other Division players on that team, and so he had to come into battle from Day 1. So I think that’s part of his DNA too.”
It’s been seven years since that game against Grayson and now Castle is playing on the biggest of stages — the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs.
And like he did throughout his high school career, Castle is playing at his best in the biggest moments. In his first run in the NBA Playoffs, the 6-foot-6 guard has helped lead his team to the finals while averaging 19 points, 6.3 assists and five rebounds per game in 21 postseason appearances while shooting 47.7% from the floor.
His most recent outing — a 115-111 win against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Monday night — Castle put together one of his best performances of the postseason with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.
“I said before the game (Monday) that because this was, you know, the biggest game of the season. I was almost assured that he was going to play well,” Gibbons said, having had a front row to plenty of impressive games from Castle. “The big-game play is not surprising at all. I mean, he’s done that from Day 1. I think his concentration level goes to another place, and then, obviously, his skill. It’s always been at a high level. So I just think the bigger the game, the bigger he’s going to play.”
His junior year against Prolific Prep, a powerhouse from Florida, Castle had 35 points. His senior year, the Rams went out to Duncanville in Texas to face one of the top high school teams in the country and he finished the game with 40.
It wasn’t every game that Castle brought it, but when his team needed it, he delivered. He helped Newton reach two 7A quarterfinals in his four years of high school before finishing off his high school career as a 5-star prospect in the 2023 McDonald’s All-American Game, where he had 13 points on 83% shooting in 13 minutes of action.
After high school, Castle played the 2023-24 season at Connecticut. He led the Huskies to a national championship and earned unanimous Big East Freshman of the Year honors behind 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 rebounds per game.
“At UConn, he had to go in there and battle as well,” Gibbons said. “I think he’s going to fight, and I think that’s what he’s always done. And so that started in high school for him, really, just battling every day.”
Castle declared for the 2024 NBA draft after one season of college ball and was passed over by three teams, including the hometown Atlanta Hawks, who used the first overall pick on Zaccharie Risacher.
With San Antonio, Castle was named Rookie of the Year and with the help of Victor Wembanyama and Dylan Harper, the Spurs are in the NBA Finals.
Gibbons, who now coaches at Gainesville, has stayed in touch with Castle since he left Newton, connecting in person over the summer. He was able to see Castle play live when San Antonio came to Atlanta in December.
Castle had 17 points, seven assists and two rebounds in his homecoming.
“The kid that you see during the interview postgame — you know, calm, quiet, you know, not all over the place — he’s kind of like that in real life. Like, what you see is what you get, man,” Gibbons said. “Just a really, really good kid. All around, raised right and enjoying these moments. I mean, he’s lived for these. I mean, that’s what he always talked about — be a great NBA player — and that’s exactly what he’s doing right now.”
The Spurs picked up their first win in the finals in Game 3 on Monday and now face a pivotal Game 4 on Wednesday night in New York. They’ll look to even the series at two games apiece before returning home for Game 5 on Saturday.
As a basketball coach and fan, Gibbons is sure that Castle and his team have made the adjustments necessary to keep the series going. He even thinks that the Spurs, once down 2-0, can win the series.
“I’m not going to be surprised, if this goes to Game 7, they got a chance to win it in San Antonio,” Gibbons said. “I just think it takes adjusting to every round. Your first time in, you go to the Western Conference Finals, that’s an adjustment. Now, the NBA Finals, that’s an adjustment. So, I just think the first two rounds they had to — first two games — they had to adjust. I think they’re settled in now.”
And regardless of how the end of the season pans out for the 21-year-old, Gibbons will still see him in the offseason — just like old times.
