Casto reportedly transfers to Franklin
The nomadic saga of talented 6-foot-8 basketball player DeAngelo Casto continues.
As reported in the Seattle Times Saturday, Casto’s mother, Stacy, said that the athlete, who began at Freeman and transferred to Ferris, will finish his career at Franklin in Seattle next year.
Casto was in Seattle playing with the Quakers in a summer basketball tournament.
In the Seattle Times story, Stacy Casto said that for personal reasons it was time for the move, including “cultural diversity over here that is really lacking over there.”
When asked about the Seattle Times report, Ferris basketball coach Don Van Lierop wouldn’t rule out his staying and was loathe to comment, but said Casto wasn’t playing with Ferris this summer.
“I haven’t talked to him,” Van Lierop said. “He hasn’t told me anything.”
Casto was integral to the Saxons’ 29-0 state championship basketball season as their inside presence, attracting collegiate interest.
During a post-game interview last winter Casto said he is originally from St. Louis before becoming a member of the largely adoptive family of Duane and Stacy Casto, that includes 15 children.
He played his first year and a half of varsity basketball at Freeman before a disagreement with his mother after he played in a game against her wishes. He then transferred to Ferris.
When he enrolled at Ferris, he became estranged from his family and Van Lierop said last year that Casto moved from place to place before winding up with the family of a Ferris player.
Following the game last winter Casto said that he missed Freeman, but, “this move (to Ferris) actually was excellent for me academically and, as you can see, to get seen by colleges.”
He added that he and his mother had reconnected.
Casto averaged 14.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game and led the state champs in blocked shots.
“He’s a great kid,” Van Lierop said.
“If you told me three months ago that we’d go 29-0, have five regulars back plus others, but then would be missing our big man, who could have predicted that?”