Stephon Castle on playing with Victor Wembanyama

Stephon Castle on playing with Victor Wembanyama

any questions for step on please raise your hand hey step Aman kidw with SP Nation here um what was your contact with the Spurs before uh the draft and how do you feel about your fit there um I mean they they always told me that that they were super high on me but I mean of course it’s the NBA Draft so you can’t make any promises to anybody but you know I just can’t wait to get out there and show my versatility especially with you know the kind of talent that you know we already have on that team you know it being the youngest team in the league right now so um I feel like our future is pretty bright and you know I just can’t wait to get out there on the left Stefan you made a big U point of emphasis about wanting to play point guard I’m just wondering if you in the past half hour you thought a lot about playing point guard with Victor wanyama the possibilities that opens up uh I mean yeah definitely just being able to you know show my playmaking ability with you know such a great teammate like that and you know just learning how to play off the ball at Yukon so being able to show that as well especially by having a great teammate like like Victor being never to you know set ball screens for him and you know cut cut in space when when teams are you know trying to load up on him um you know just you know just trying to use all aspects of my game to you know just impact winning other questions for step how do you prepare uh this offseason after you you know how do you prepare yourself for this moment in this offseason and ready uh to be selected for the San Antonio sports um I mean it’s it’s really hard to prepare for for for that moment uh you mean it’s just a lot of a lot of emotions run through your head especially when you hear your name get called but uh on the basketball side of things uh just always keep your head now always working you know just staying humble um and you know just having all that self-confidence in myself that you know everything’s going to work out third row on the right Steph hook I’m to San Antonio uh Curious you’re going from one culture-based program at Yukon to a culture-based team with the Spurs uh talk about your conversations with Coach papovich leading up to the draft and your thoughts on playing for Dan Hurley and now going to play for Greg Pap yeah yeah I mean I was just playing for the best coach in college basketball so now going to flip to the NBA and playing for you know a legendary coach like Coach P I mean it’s definitely a blessing and you know on the culture side of things I mean it’s not really a a big culture change from from Yukon to San Antonio I mean just being out there during you know the pre-draft process you can tell that you know it’s a hardworking program and you know super super hard noos so I just can’t wait to go out there and you know and you know just show show what I got first start here hi Sharon Taylor New York Beacon congratulations can you talk about the excitement of going winning the NCAA Championship to hearing your name called today um I mean everything is just happening like really really fast so um you know just being in the Natty really soaking in that moment uh you know with my teammates you know that’s a super big accomplishment and then you know flip over to a couple months later you know you and you know another one of your teammates are are top 10 picks you know it really it really means the world to me and you know I wouldn’t trade this for anything fourth row second SE in uh I was just curious uh since you’ve been drafted have you heard from wemi and if so what has he said to you so far yeah I just talked to him on the phone not too long ago I mean we were just just talking about you know just coming down to to San Antonio just can’t wait to you know get to work and you know just excited for our future and excited for you know this this upcoming season any other [Music] questions slow on the m just going on that uh you know uh you were picked fourth overall Donovan was picked seventh two of the earliest picks in over a decade for Yukon what does it mean for you to have been picked uh you know so early and your teammate as well uh I mean it means a lot I mean me and DC have been through through so much together um you know I’ve been I was friends with him before I got to Yukon before I committed to Yukon so I mean I’ve known him forever now I mean I know how much you know he’s been through and you know for for that to happen you know it’s such a great reflection on you know our program and you know just it’s a reflection on all the hard work that we’ve put in so um you know it’s it’s really a blessing first here in the middle Lloyd Carol from the Queen’s Chronicle I asked Reed Shepard when he was drafted by Houston He was unaware that there’s no state income tax uh did your agent mentioned that as soon as you were drafted by San Antonio you have to ask about that blink that’s pretty serious stuff but what does that represent well no he didn’t he didn’t tell me that as soon as I get draft that’s probably a conversation we’ll have a little later but um you locked out yeah yeah it’s all good but what about the blink I’m trying to figure this said this right here yeah oh this is a castle for my last name this is a castle oh that’s good makes sense and then my initial is right there on the bottom very nice yeah thank you last row Brandy Richardson NBC news congratulations it’s a big move from Connecticut to San Antonio have you thought about what it’s going to be the last thing you do before you move to join your new team the last thing I do uh probably just celebrate with my family um I mean I was I was born here in New York so I have a lot of family here out at the draft so um just doing whatever I can to show how much you know appreciation I have towards them for all their support right before I go out to San Antonio and start my next Journey last question here in the first row you did talk about uh possibly playing for Papa yesterday did you kind of speak it into existence were you expecting to get drafted by the Spurs what you’re wearing matches the color scheme of the team well I mean uh I mean what what I picked for the draft it wasn’t like intentional but um I mean I guess it all really worked out I guess I kind of manifested it to you know happen for me but you know I wasn’t really expecting you know anybody to to to pick me up I mean I I didn’t have any expectations coming in I was kind of open-minded to to Really everything but you know I’m happy that you know it went the way that I did I’m super blessed for you know the Spurs organization you know taking a chance on me and I just can’t wait to get out there take all right good Style Style tonight I like the whole suit yeah no that’s W all right break here

UConn basketball prospect Stephon Castle discusses playing with Victor Wembanyama, being coached by Gregg Popovich after being coached by Dan Hurley, his interaction with Popovich before being drafted, going from winning a championship with UConn in April to being drafted in June, discusses his interaction with the franchise before the draft, possibly manifesting being selected by the Spurs, both he and Donovan Clingan being drafted in the top seven picks, and more at the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York