Kansas State basketball signs four-star point guard David Castillo for 2024-25 season
MANHATTAN — David Castillo, a national top-50 high school prospect who committed to Kansas State over the summer, officially signed with the Wildcats on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA's early signing period.
"We signed a dude today, and he is a terrific basketball player," K-State coach Jerome Tang said of Castillo, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound point guard from Bartlesville, Oklahoma. "He's a leader. He's a winner."
Castillo played three years for former K-State guard Clent Stewart at Bartlesville High before transferring to Sunrise Academy in Bel Aire, near Wichita, for his senior season. He was twice named to the Tulsa World All-State team and left Bartlesville as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,594 points.
"I stand before you with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and humility as I sign my national letter of intent to join the K-State family," Castillo said.
In addition to his high school accomplishments, Castillo won two gold medals with USA Basketball at the FIBA U16 championships and then at the U17 World Cup two years ago. An injury kept him from playing with the team this past summer.
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"The man is just a winner," Tang said. "He understands what it takes to win and lead, and I'm just really excited about him.
"Before his injury he was considered a top-20 player in the country and then he got injured and out of sight, out of mind. But it didn't change who he is as a player, and so we're super excited to get him."
In fact, Tang said Castillo was one of the Wildcats' two primary recruiting targets for the early signing period. The other was five-star forward Patrick Ngongba, who had K-State in his final three before committing to Duke on Saturday.
"There were two guys that we really locked in on, and I said we're going to get those two guys, and if we don't get them then we'll go into the portal, and that plan is still in place," Tang said. "We got one out of two. Fifty percent in recruiting is a huge win, because normally it's like 20%."
Castillo averaged 22.3 points, six rebounds and four assists as a junior at Bartlesville.
"He's fast. He's got some pop to him, and he can score the ball," Tang said. "But he is very unselfish. It doesn't hurt him to give the ball up. He's very poised."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball signs four-star point guard David Castillo
