Stephon Castle, alongside fellow Kia Rookie of the Year award winners for the Spurs
We’re tipping off our Rookie of the Year series with the most recent winner of the award, San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle. We’ll take a closer look at his background (college, draft slot) and debut campaign after he suited up for 81 regular-season contests in 2024-25.
As a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Connecticut in 2023-24, Castle appeared in 34 games (30 starts) en route to averages of 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in 27.0 minutes per game. He helped lead the Huskies to a 32-2 overall record and the school’s second consecutive (sixth total) NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship by taking down Purdue, 75-60, in the title matchup on Apr. 8, 2024.
Castle finished the championship victory as the Huskies’ second-leading scorer, dropping 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting (1-4 3Pt, 2-4 FT) with five boards, three assists and a steal in 34 minutes of action. Two days prior, in UConn’s Final Four tilt versus Alabama, he matched his collegiate career high with a team-high 21 points (7-13 FG, 2-6 3Pt, 5-6 FT), five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 29 minutes to seal the 86-72 win. Castle was rewarded with several accolades for his efforts during his one-and-done freshman year, including Big East Freshman of the Year, Big East All-Freshman Team, NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Teams (AP), and was named Big East Freshman of the Week 11 times.
Two months later, the Spurs selected Castle with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In his professional debut on Oct. 24, 2024, against the Dallas Mavericks, he posted eight points (3-7 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 2-3 FT), three rebounds, five assists and two turnovers in almost 19 minutes, but San Antonio would lose the contest, 120-109. It took the 6-foot-6, 215-pound guard a couple of weeks to get going, but over the course of November, he reached double figures in scoring in 12 of 14 contests while earning the first start of his young career in a loss versus the Houston Rockets. Castle tallied averages of 13.6 points, 2.9 boards, 4.1 assists and 0.8 steals on 41.6 / 31.8 / 72.9 splits in 28.6 minutes that month.
In December, the explosive athlete hit the infamous “rookie wall”. Castle struggled to the tune of 10.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.2 apg and 0.9 spg with splits of 37.6 / 20.9 / 72.1 in 22.9 minutes across 13 outings, finishing with less than 10 points in seven of those. Once the calendar turned to 2025, though, things really started to click for the Covington, Georgia, native.
Across 12 appearances in January, Castle notched 20-plus points in five contests, including three straight from Jan. 13 – 17. He pushed his monthly averages to 14.9 points, 3.1 boards, 3.6 dimes and 0.6 steals on 43.1 / 28.8 / 72.7 splits in 27.0 minutes per. Castle was voted as the Rookie of the Month for the first time, beating out fellow rooks Alex Sarr, Zaccharie Risacher and Jaylen Wells.
In February, he participated in the Rising Stars Challenge and Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend, where he won the NBA Rising Stars Challenge MVP award over other top rookies and sophomores. Before the All-Star festivities began, Castle recorded a career-high 33 points on 10-of-15 shooting (3-5 3Pt, 10-11 FT) with four boards and two assists during a 117-116 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
From the beginning of March to the end of the regular season, Castle started to show consistent signs of improvement across the board. In 25 outings over that stretch, he tallied 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 0.9 steals in 30.2 minutes a night. He recorded five double-doubles in the process while compiling shooting splits of 45.6 / 30.0 / 71.7, leading the Spurs to a 10-15 record to close out the year. Castle was rewarded with his second Rookie of the Month honor for March after averaging 19.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 4.8 apg and 1.0 spg in 28.8 mpg over 17 contests. In eight appearances in April, the soon-to-be 21-year-old (Nov. 1) went off for 18.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 7.5 apg while scoring at least 15 points in each outing.
Overall, Castle wrapped up his impressive rookie campaign by averaging 14.1 points, 3.7 boards, 4.1 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks and 2.2 turnovers in 26.7 minutes across 81 games in 24-25. A global media panel of 100 voters chose Castle as the Kia ROTY after he received 92 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote, giving him a total of 482 points. Atlanta’s Risacher finished in a distant second place with 245 total points.
