21 years ago Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points in the Final Four to see his Syracuse advance to the National Championship game. Over 20 years later, and another Big East freshman is doing similar things.

Stephon Castle was born and raised in Covington Georgia. He attended Newton High School and quickly made a name for himself. Castle and Newton made it to the 7A Elite 8 his Freshman year falling by 6 to Milton. His junior year he averaged over 15 points and 6 rebounds falling just short of the title game losing by 3 to Norcross in the 7A semifinals. His senior he averaged 20 points, nearly 10 rebounds, and 5 assists a game his senior year making the leap from a 4 star to a 5 star, they fell again to Norcross in a heartbreaker losing by 2 in the 7A quarterfinals.

After his Newton career the 6’6 guard was selected an All-American and finished the year a 5 star recruit. He choose the Huskies over Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, , Georgia Tech, and Ohio State.

Coming to the team that just had won the National Championship was no easy task, but Castle made sure to make himself known. Castle averaged 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, in his freshman year at UConn. His freshman year he became the Big East’s all time record holder for Freshman of the week, overtaking two guys you might have heard off, 9 time winner Allen Iverson (Georgetown) and 10 time winner Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse). He helped UCONN to the number 1 overall seed in March Madness and was a key contributor on their run to the Final Four.

Going into the Final Four UConn were facing difficulties with Alabama proving to be a massive problem for the Huskies who had dominated the tournament up until that point. That’s when Stephon Castle turned it on. He finished the game with 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists being UConn’s leading scorer on the night.

Stephon Castle and UConn have 1 game left vs Purdue on Monday for the championship. It has been a long and tiresome journey for the more from Covington, but he is ready to star for UConn and beyond. The former Newton star is primed and ready for whatever comes ahead of him.