When Bartlesville junior guard David Castillo decided he was ready to announce his college commitment, he wanted to keep it simple.
Castillo, a consensus Top 50 player in the Class of 2024, announced his commitment to Kansas State earlier this week in a small ceremony at Bruin Field House in Bartlesville.
“I never wanted to be the guy that goes on Instagram or does it for attention,” said Castillo. “To do it here is special. I’ve been playing here since I was a kid.”
In front of friends, fans and classmates, Castillo announced his decision while surrounded by his family.
“I would like to thank everyone who is here right now,” Castillo said to the crowd. “It’s very special to me. I would like to thank my entire family for pushing me through tough times and holding me accountable for good and bad decisions and leading me and guiding me throughout this entire process. I would like to thank all of my coaches who have taught me the game of basketball and also taught me how to be successful in this world without a basketball. I would like to thank all the coaches who took the time to recruit me and visit me to their program. All of this has been a dream of mine and to see it to fruition has made me extremely happy but also extremely motivated to work even harder. With that being said, I’ll be committing to Kansas State University.”
Considered the top junior in Oklahoma, Castillo chose the Wildcats over fellow Big 12 schools Oklahoma State and Kansas.
“I definitely wanted to play in the Big 12,” stated Castillo, who has already set the Bartlesville career scoring record with 1,594 points. “It’s the toughest conference in the country. I’m a competitor. I want to play.”
Bartlesville head coach Clent Stewart, a former Kansas State player himself, is excited Castillo gets the chance to chase his basketball dream.
“I’ve seen the work that he’s put in day in and day out,” stated Stewart to GoPowercat.com following the press conference. “It’s just been amazing for me to have the opportunity to coach him and a blessing to have a player of his caliber here in Bartlesville.”
“He’s a humble kid,” added Stewart. “He’s always been that way from day one. He plays hard. He can really score. He listens well. I think the community is going to fall in love with the person he is on and off the floor. I’m looking forward to watching him at that next level. They got a really, really good one.”
Castillo was a member of Team USA last summer and won a gold medal at the FIBA Under17 World Cup in Spain. In 2021, he was part of the Team USA U16 squad that won a gold medal in Mexico.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet because I’m still in high school,” admitted Castillo. “I’m blessed to be in this position. To go through this and be from Bartlesville is really special.”
“It feels amazing,” added Castillo. “This has been a very long process. I took it day by day. I didn’t know I was going to be committing this early. It’s a dream come true.”
