Stephon Castle's NIL value at UConn before joining Spurs

By Jay Postrado July 17, 2024 07:59

Bob Donnan - USA Today

Before getting an absolute bag from the San Antonio Spurs after the 2024 NBA Draft, Stephon Castle was making big plays and an even larger bag when he was with the UConn basketball program. His acumen in playing a role under Dan Hurley proved to be crucial in their back-to-back national championship run during March Madness. All while he was making a name in front of scouts, his NIL valuation also continued to increase over time. How much was he earning at Storrs?

Stephon Castle was selected with the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft. He will now go from having a generational mastermind in Dan Hurley to getting coached by Gregg Popovich in the Spurs system. Not to mention, he will get to space out the floor and heat up alongside Victor Wembanyama.

This UConn basketball star already knows how to thrive under a successful coach and work with a generational big man. After all, he also had to complement Donovan Clingan’s style of play during his college tenure. Whether it’s being ready for off-the-post passes or being the ball-handler in pick-and-roll schemes, he has shown a lot of versatility in executing varying schemes.

But, another aspect of the game that he got good at was building his NIL valuation. By the end of his run with UConn, he was ranked the 176th-ranked player in all of college basketball in terms of deals. The figures that he earned at Storrs were estimated to clock in at around $428,000 before he decided to head to the NBA Draft.

Which companies gave Stephon Castle NIL deals at UConn?

The top-ranked shooting guard of the 2023 recruiting class and eighth-best player in the nation surely made a lot of deals, right? Well, not exactly. Only two brands have been able to give him a contract worth inking. Both of them even came at the height of UConn’s March Madness run which was quite surprising, per On 3 Sports.

The first deal that he signed was with Topps. This renowned trading card brand released editions of Castle’s cards in different poses. Notably, there are still a lot of these cards in circulation. It was also not the first time that he worked with this company. The UConn basketball star had signed cards from his McDonald’s All-American days and will likely have some more during his run with the Spurs. Keeping an eye out for those NBA Draft and rookie cards might be wise for some collectors.

Keurig is the last brand that got to sign Castle. He inked the deal with the company a day after he signed with Topps. The coffee maker brand got him along with other big college basketball stars to be their endorsers during the NCAA Tournament. In his advertisement with the brand, he was with fellow UConn basketball star Tristen Newton. They were throwing coffee pods into a Keurig coffee maker.