Florida big man entering Purdue's search for post help
More ($): Newly offered Ohio forward on Purdue
LAS VEGAS — Class of 2018 big man Colin Castleton was a hot name among college coaches this July as a number of high-major programs are stepping up their interest in the 6-foot-11 big man from Daytona Beach.
Purdue has been one of the programs to reach out to Castleton recently as the Boilermakers continue to search for quality big men.
"Purdue looked at me. They're still texting me. They're coming to some of my games," Castleton said. "I like them a lot because they've produced a lot of NBA big men and that's my goal and dream is to go to the NBA. I like their school a lot because they produce a lot of big men. They told me they could use me well because I can stretch the floor and stuff like that."
As a potential floor-spacing big man at the next level, Castleton has started to draw a lot of attention from major programs because of his rapidly improving skill level. Switching teams from Nike South Beach in the Nike EYBL to Team Knight in the adidas Gauntlet, Castleton has also seen his production improve during July as he feels much more comfortable with his new team.
"A lot of schools said I came out of nowhere," Castleton said. "I just put a lot of work in in June with my high school coach working out. It's been pretty good though. This is a new team for me. I played on the EYBL before but I like this team a lot."
Motivated by a lack of high-major offers and a desire to eventually become a professional basketball player, Castleton hit the gym hard during June and started to see the results pay off.
"Just repetition with everything. A lot of shooting, a lot of ball handling. In college I want to be really versatile," Castleton said. "Run the floor, shoot it, defend really well. I really work on everything. Agility, I got in the weight room a little bit. I'm just working on my game."
Aside from Purdue's interest, Castleton is also being recruited by Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Rutgers and Xavier as he's trying to sift through all of the recent interest and scholarship offers.
"Just last week, I got seven offers in one day. There's a lot of schools looking at me and a lot that said they are going to watching me play." Castleton said.
With the recruiting process coming on very quickly, Castleton is still figuring out his next steps, but he has said he'd like to take visits to Illinois and Xavier when he starts to figure things out. Although Castleton is being recruited by a lot of schools that are close to home, he's open to any school that could be the right fit.
"Distance isn't even a factor. If it's a good fit, I'm going," Castleton said. "I talked to my family, they said they don't care. They'll make the ride, I'll get tickets for them. That's fine with me. As long as it's a good fit, I'm going."
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