Daily Pilot Athlete of the Month: David Castleton

Tony Altobelli

It’s something Orange Coast College men’s basketball player David

Castleton can tell his kids someday: He got to play against Los Angeles

Lakers star, Kobe Bryant in high school.

“I played against him in a summer league game and I had to guard him the

whole game. He torched me for 39 points. It wasn’t very pretty.”

Ok, perhaps, he’ll skip that little story, but there’s plenty of others

he can share to future generations.

Whether it’s football or basketball, Castleton has left a considerable

impression to the Pirates history.

But it’s in hoops where Castleton is currently setting the pace,

averaging 23 points a game overall.

“I’m not used to being the go-to guy out there,” Castleton said. “Even in

high school, I was more of a role player.”

Despite his limited experience as the No. 1 option, Coach Mark Hill has

been more than impressed with his production as the point guard.

“He’s really been impressive out there,” Hill said. “Sometimes, I think

he’s even a little TOO unselfish out there.”

Hill’s wide-open style of offense has really suited Castleton, who

averaged only eight points a game last year under then-Coach Tim O’Brien.

“Coach Hill has really given me and the others a lot of freedom out

there,” Castleton said. “To be able to shoot the ball and push the

offense has really helped me and the rest of the team out.”

One thing that Castleton does not want to become and that’s a

one-dimensional player.

“People see the scoring, but I like to think I help the team out in more

areas than that,” Castleton said. “If I don’t have a good shot, I love

passing the ball off to the open guy and watching him score.”

It’s been Castleton’s mental game that has improved the most from last

year, according to Hill.

“He’s matured so much, it’s incredible,” Hill said. “He’s a leader and a

captain and has tremendous will to win.”

Castleton has continued his big numbers into the Orange Empire

Conference, averaging 24.9 points a game in OEC matchups.

“When you get to conference, you’ve already been scouted by the rest of

the teams,” Hill said. “So to continue to put up such big numbers says a

lot about his will to win. The tougher the competition, the higher his

game goes up.”

After a stellar career at Mater Dei High, the two-sport athlete moved on

to Brigham Young University, but things didn’t work out so good there, so

he transferred to OCC.

“I was going to stay at OCC for a year and go back to BYU, but I decided

to stay at OCC and explore other options,” Castleton said.

Where to from here?

“Right now, I’m looking at a few options,” Castleton said. “The

University of Hawaii, Fresno State and San Diego State are schools I’m

looking in to.”

The big question is, will Castleton be a two-sport athlete at the NCAA

Division I level?

“I would like to play both,” he said. “It’s just gonna have to depend on

which school I end up at.”

As far as Hill is concerned, basketball might be the way to go for David.

“I think that hoops might be the best choice for him,” Hill said. “But it

all comes down to personal choice. I just want him to pick a school that

not only best suits his style of play, but a school in which he’ll get a

lot of playing time.”

As a football player, Castleton caught 53 passes for 958 yards and scored

four touchdowns last season. Both marks are second on OCC’s all-time,

single-season reception totals.

When he’s not putting up monster numbers on the basketball court,

Castleton likes to put up monster numbers on the golf course.

“I don’t play enough to get real good, so I’m considered a hacker out

there,” Castleton said with a laugh. “If I’m not playing sports, I

basically like to hang around the house and recover from playing sports.”