Recruiting

Four-star big man Colin Castleton commits to Michigan

Michigan added a commitment from four-star big man Colin Castleton today.

Michigan added a commitment from four-star big man Colin Castleton today.

Castleton joins David DeJulius, Brandon Johns, Ignas Brazdeikis and Adrien Nunez in Michigan’s 2018 class. Castleton’s commitment should wrap up Michigan’s 2018 recruiting and the class is currently ranked in the top-5 nationally according to 247 Sports Team Rankings.

Michigan started recruiting Castleton late in the process after hiring new assistant coach Luke Yaklich. Yaklich had been recruiting Castleton during his time at Illinois State and connected Michigan with the skilled big man. An in-home visit by John Beilein led to an official visit being scheduled over the weekend and now Castleton is a member of the class.

Rankings & Offers

Castleton picked Michigan over Illinois, but he was also mulling offers from Florida, Florida State, Xavier, Clemson, Purdue and others. He’s a fringe top-100 prospect who saw his stock rise significantly this summer.

Rankings:

  • 247 Composite: #116, four-star
  • Rivals: #120, four-star
  • Scout: #70, four-star
  • 247: #138, three-star

Video

Castleton’s high school Hudl film is very impressive. He shows off his full skillset including his ability to finish around the hoop, protect the rim and even handle the ball on the perimeter at times.

He wasn’t nearly as perimeter-focused with his grassroots team, but his coordination and skill around the basket is very evident. We broke down his entire summer of film in a video breakdown for our members last week.

Here’s a quick reel of Castleton from the Nike EYBL this summer as well.

Here are additional summer highlights from the adidas circuit:

Scouting

Castleton is an elite rim protector and proved that this summer on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he finished ranked 2nd in the league in block rate. That ability to protect the rim is critical for a program that has failed to do so consistently under John Beilein and Castleton is the biggest step in the right direction that Michigan has taken toward fixing those issues.

The bonus factor here is that Castleton is versatile enough that Michigan won’t lose much of anything offensively. He has the tools to be a great roll man in Michigan’s offense and shows great coordination and touch around the basket. In high school, he’s even more versatile and shows off some ability to drive past defenders. That ability will probably take some time to emerge in college given that it was rarely present in EYBL play.

Read our entire written scouting report and video breakdown for more of our thoughts on Castleon’s game and fit in Ann Arbor.

Rivals was impressed with Castleton in July:

Castleton is one of the more intriguing post players in the southeast in the 2019 class. At 6-foot-11 with arms that appear to stretch down to his knees, Castleton is a pretty smooth athlete with a high skill level. He can knock down jumpers out to three-point range, but some of his more impressive moments were plays he made posting up on the block or a couple steps off. Like most young post players, he needs to add some strength, but his long term potential is very high. He’s another prospect who deserves to be ranked in the 2018 Rivals150.

Scout.com has Castleton rated as high as anyone and focuses on his outside and inside ability:

In a class short on legit bigs, Colin Castleton is really emerging. He was tremendous at the HoopSeen Best of the South. At a legit 6-foot-10, Castleton has skill to the three point line, while also not being afraid to compete down low. He needs strength, but is already making strides in that area and is improving quickly.

FIT & OUTLOOK

Castleton projects to the five in Michigan’s offense and it is easy to get excited about his fit. He can protect the rim, moves extremely well and has the potential to hit the three-point shot at the next level.

It’s no secret that Moritz Wagner is likely to have NBA opportunities after this season and Castleton provides another insurance option if Wagner is to head to the NBA. Jon Teske and Austin Davis have both earned praise at different times, and will have big opportunities to prove themselves this season, but Castleton appears to have potentially more upside than either.

He’ll probably draw unfair comparisons to Wagner given his versatility and highlights, but that’s probably over the top. Castleton is a skilled big man, but he’s a (skinny) big man first. Wagner has always been a guard or a wing in big body with an incredibly unique perimeter ability whereas Castleton plays more naturally around the basket and isn’t nearly as comfortable handling the ball on the perimeter.

Castleton’s commitment means that Michigan’s 2018 class is probably wrapped up. The Wolverines signed what could be a five-man unit with DeJulius, Nunez, Brazdeikis, Johns and Castleton spanning the 1 through 5 positions. This is likely to be John Beilein’s highest rated class since 2012 or 2013 and it is a group that fills multiple holes in the roster.

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