Jerome Tang and the Kansas State Wildcats added one of the highest-ranked freshmen in program history ahead of the 2024-25 season in four-star guard David Castillo.
Castillo, a 6-foot-1 combo guard from Oklahoma, is the lone freshman in the Wildcats 2025 recruiting class and is expected to make major strides in the upcoming season.
Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang spoke to media members for the first time on Friday and made some glowing remarks about the newest Wildcat. Tang spoke on Castillo, saying, “David Castillo’s maturity and approach are different. You would not know that he’s a freshman. I walk out of the gym all the time, and I’m wondering how I’m not going to start him. What he’s done very quickly is, he’s gained our trust as a staff, like, I know that if we are down one, 30 seconds to go, crowd going crazy on the road, that he’s gonna be okay out on the floor. I can trust him out on the floor that he’s gonna make the right decision.”
Coming out of Sunrise Christian High School in the Class of 2024, Castillo is listed as a four-star prospect by the 247Sports index and the nation’s 50th-ranked prospect. He also checks in as the sixth-ranked player at his position and the top-ranked player in the state of Kansas.
Castillo played for former Wildcat Clent Stewart back at Bartlesville High School, which helped establish a connection to Kansas State. Stewart spoke highly of the Oklahoma native and mentioned that he “always plays under control and makes the right play. Cats fans are going to love him.”
Despite the Wildcats’ reliance on the transfer portal this offseason, Castillo will have an opportunity to make a sizeable impact with Kansas State, bigger than some may have originally thought.
