Rafael Castro announced that he will be joining Ed Cooley and the Providence Friars for next year, joining Michigan forward Legend Geeter as the second member of the 2021 recruiting class. Castro choose PC over the likes of Dayton and Miami who made up the other two schools included in his final three.
Castro is a lanky and seemingly continuously growing stretch big whose ceiling looks to me to be extremely underestimated right now. With much of this past year’s basketball unable to be played, there are going to be a bunch of players in this year’s class that were under-recruited and are going to become studs for some lucky programs that were able to scoop them up. Castro fits that profile to a T.
“My relationship with Ed Cooley was the strongest out of all the coaches. Also playing in the Big East, it’s a good basketball conference. And my family can see some of the games because it’s close to Jersey.”
– Rafael Castro
The rangy 6’10” Castro averaged 18.3 ppg and 16.3 rpg last season for Dover High School in Dover, NJ, leading the entire state of New Jersey in rebounding. He has the ability to extend all the way out to the perimeter and drain shots consistently, making him a promising match-up problem that could become an even bigger issue for opposing teams once he adds some more muscle to his slender frame. His defensive prowess and aptitude at swatting everything that comes near him or around the rim gives him a college-ready skill right out of the gate. Expecting Nate Watson & Noah Horchler to most likely vacate the PF and C positions for Providence next season opens up some available minutes right away during Castro’s Freshman season. Pairing him up in the front court with Ed Croswell’s big body down low will make for an intriguing line up combination that I think will mesh extremely well in the 2021-2022 basketball season.
Castro has the athleticism of a much smaller player in the enticing frame of a skilled big man. He possesses advanced maneuverability for a player his size, fitting the prototypical Ed Cooley player model with his potential positional versatility. He is a lob waiting to happen and thrives at running the floor (p.s. miss you Kalif Young).
Welcome to Friartown young man, we can’t wait to meet ya…
The Morning Hangover 
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