Notae Presents the Value of Razorbacks to a 4-Star Rookie

ESPN 4-Star Junior Shooting Guard Stephon Castle recently received a scholarship offer from the University of Arkansas, and he’s heard good things from UA Senior Guard JD Notae, who has attended the same high school as Castle.

“He tells me he loves it,” Castle said.

Castle, 6-6, 200 pounds, of Covington, Ga. Newton, has 11 other scholarship offers from schools such as Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Miami, Georgia Tech, and Connecticut. The Razorbacks offered it on June 23.

Notae, who was the Bleacher Report National’s sixth man of the year and the SEC’s sixth man of the year, spoke to coach Eric Musselman and his team.

“He really loves them,” he said. “He tells me they are great coaches.

Castle appreciates his developing relationship with the Arkansas coaches.

“It’s going pretty well. They’re reaching out a lot,” said Castle, who is recruited by Arkansas as a combined guard. “They show a great interest in me. They watch me sometimes, not even for basketball stuff. About life.”

He noticed the success Moses Moody, Jaylin Williams and Davonte Davis had as freshmen last season.

“I realized they were one of the only schools to start all of these freshmen, so that’s definitely something to look into,” he said.

Castle averaged 13.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals while shooting 41 percent from the three-point line in second year. ESPN ranks Castle as the country’s No.29 Shooting Guard and Georgia’s No.6 Hope for Class 2023.

Several perspectives have called Musselman and his team genuine. Castle agrees with this assessment.

“They seem to be really cool people,” he said. “Like the fact that they’re watching me without even talking about basketball stuff all the time. You can tell they’re actually genuine people.”

Castle uses his vision to involve his teammates.

“I can score the ball, but I like my teammates to do it,” he said. “I feel like it’s one of my underestimated skills. I keep the ball very well, even at my height.”

His father Stacey was a Wake Forest and Central Florida goaltender in the early 1990s and coached his son’s Atlanta XPress team under 16 on the Under Armor Association circuit. The younger Castle understands the benefits of spreading the ball.

“If you get your teammates involved it sets the stage and then you can start doing whatever you want and make everything easier,” Castle said. “I play with a few very well-liked guys so I’m not the only person and I don’t have to do it on my own. It makes it easier for me when I just give them the ball and put them in the right spots. . “

Castle, who visited Georgia on June 29, is looking to travel to Fayetteville for a visit.

“I think my dad is going to put this in place in August or after, but I know I’m definitely going to be going someday,” Castle said.

Ole Miss and Auburn are also on his list of schools to visit.

“I think I could go to UConn, but I’m not sure yet,” he said.

Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

JD Notes