I would guess that Castleton is a lot longer than Mo. Mo measured at a 7’0" wingspan. Gotta imagine Castleton is probably in the 7’3" range atleast?
Yeah. A lot better than I anticipated. Better than Wagner’s vids. Not sure he has Wagner’s first step but everything else looked more advanced.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes to become a rotation player.
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He seems to be a better athlete than Wagner but we will see. He is so fluid in his movements. His immediate asset would be as a shot blocker.
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Excuse me!?!?! That is the Wagner step back!!!
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My conversation with the AD was very informative. He said Colin didn’t start playing basketball until eighth. He was 6’2 and pretty raw and they didn’t know if he was going to “make it” either in school or basketball. Not in a negative sense, just that he has grown and developed so much through his four years at Father Lopez HS. He grew to 6’5 as a freshman and 6’8 as a sophomore. Of course now he is every bit of 6’11. The AD is very involved with his student athletes and talked of how much Colin has grown as a student, a young man, AND a basketball player. He said they hired a strength coach last year and Colin has put on 18 pounds since last summer. Based on my conversation with him, I think Colin may just be scratching the surface, but boy oh boy he looks good in his film.
The AD accompanied Colin on his visit to Michigan for the OSU game and the staff told him he’d put on another 20 pounds his freshman year because of nutrition and strength training. Colin was really taken with how strong B1G players are down low, and knows he’s going to have to get a lot stronger.
I’m impressed with his ability to score at all three levels. He’s good down low as you would expect. He does, after all, tower over his competition, but his mid range game is outstanding and his three point shot is very good and seemingly quite effortless. The AD said he thought it was around the rim that Colin would need the most development because of the strength factor.
When the AD talked about the kind of person Colin is he was very effusive in his praise. He said, “you guys are getting a terrific young man.” He talked about Colin’s ability to communicate. “He just doesn’t sound like other college basketball players often do,” he said. I said he’ll fit right in because our players our players are very well spoken and are exceptional in interviews and press conferences. He said the team absolutely revolved around Colin and they tried to find every way they could to get him involved, but that he is definitely a team player. He also talked of how Colin freely gives credit to others, his family, teachers, and coaches for all they have done for him.
Once again, the AD said he was so impressed with Coach B, Coach Yak, Coach Washington, and Coach Deandre. He talked about the film session they attended. He knew these guys were knowledgeable but he was “blown away” by their ability to break things down and simplify it so the players completely understood it. He also talked about the players themselves and how player greeted them by name and shook their hand when they got there, and how congenial they were. You could tell the AD really cares for Colin and is excited that he coming to Michigan, to play in THIS program for THIS coach. After talking with him I’m pretty excited about the young man, too.
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Are you angling for a umhoops contributing writer gig? Nice work!
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Me? No! I love what they do, and they’re really good. I don’t like to be second best (or third or fourth!) at anything I do. 
Hell, I won’t even play golf with people who are better than me! Unfortunately that means I have no one to play golf with anymore! 
Nope, I’m pretty content to just take care of my “special” needs grand daughter, spend time with my wife, play golf (alone! Haha!) and write excessively verbose comments on this forum! But I DO like talking to people, and the AD at Father Lopez was a lot of fun. We had a wonderful conversation! And guess what, I found a new golf buddy for when I go to Daytona Beach!
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I guess AD at Father Lopez sucks at golf
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He told me he can’t break 90! And we’re NOT talking about Doral!
Crazy that he didn’t play basketball prior to 8th grade. Would not have guessed that…
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I really think the kid has so much upside, and he has skills NOW! The part about the Moe clone was interesting. Sane said earlier today, “Moe 2.0?” and I told the guy that and he said. “Absolutely!” He also said Colin understands that if Moe returns he’ll probably have to redshirt and if Moe goes he’ll probably have to play back up minutes behind Teske because he knows JB doesn’t like to play two bigs, but he did mention that Teske and Colin have different skill sets. He also used the words “four years at Michigan.” I think Colin is a kid who is willing to do what he needs to do for the team but he’s got a world of upside. He’ll play back up minutes while he gets stronger and more acclimated to high DI basketball, but he’s going to be really good. JB has a way of bringing those kids along and by the end of the year, watch out! We’ll see.
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His style of play is very similar to Christian Laettner’s. Not saying he will be that good, but that’s who he looks like out there.
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Tbh, I highly doubt Castleton will be here 4 years. 3 years at most. He’s gonna get “unicorn” hype.
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Reegs, I agree. The AD and I had talked about Coach B and his desire that kids come to Michigan for the experience of playing at Michigan and that they unpack their bags for four years, but if after a year or two and the NBA comes calling, he’ll drive them to the airport if that’s what they want. That may have been part of the reason he mentioned four years, but I think Colin is ready to be part of our program for the entire four years, UNLESS, of course, the NBA comes calling. At least that’s the impression the AD gave me.
May be a dumb question…what’s unicorn hype?
NBA people often like to call guys who can spread the floor/handle and block shots as a big “unicorns”.
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Video was very impressive. Lol at anyone who ranks this kid outside the top 100.
The competition was weak but the fact is some of those shots are unguardable if he hits them with consistency. Particularly the one footer mid range fade away like Dirk. I don’t care if you have a 6\9 athlete on him you can’t block that or alter it if he hits it. He’s just to tall and long , only way you can stop it is to not allow him to get the position to get the ball there in the first place. Also he can stroke it from deep clearly
For him to be ranked like 130-140 range is crazy go me. If that’s the case this is a very strong class. Same thing I said for my boy jeenathan Williams and for dejulius. All three have to be ranked higher. I’m not buying there’s a 100 to 120 kids better than them in the country
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It’s a term that’s become popular since Durant referred to Kristaps porzingis as a unicorn when asked about him his rookie year. Now any long big who’s like 6 10 , long and freakishly skilled is a "unicorn " he’ll Durant might have been the first unicorn himself,funny he created a new phrase
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I was impressed with his two end to end plays that he finished with dunks.
He could be something special, those faders abd shot are great. I still think Davis holds him off for one year. I’d like to redshirt him.
Davis has a soft touch and can shoot too for a big , but most importantly he’s very physical. We’re going to need his physicality and reboundingg when teske sits.
Either way this class is awesome. Final 4 or champions in two years again
Simpson ( senior)
Poole ( junior)
Ignas ( soph)
Livers ( junior)
Teske ( senior)
Bench
Brooks
Johns
Dejulius
Castleton
That’s a final 4 roster again/ big ten champs all day. That will be a top ten back court nationally by then. Then ignas and livers will be terrors, destroying teams on the wings. Hell ignas might lead us in ppg by then. . Teske will be an absolute monster by then. I picture him at 12 ppg with 9 boards and two blocks. Also he’ll.bE altering shots like crazy.
That bench will be dominant too. Brooks and dejulius will be interchangeable at the guards , John’s will be the best six man in the conference ( maybe country ) and castleton will have finally added weight and surpassed Davis, giving us a more offensive version of what teske did this year.
I like our chances next year but I think a deep deep run is more in the cards for two years out.