castleton transfers to fullerton

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

David Castleton To Transfer
To Cal State Fullerton--(May 9, 2000)

We don't know how we missed this one, but we did. Last week we reported on the signing of an LOI by Long Beach Poly's Joe Travis (6'-8" Sr. PF) as one of Donny Daniels' first signees (along with Ryan Dillon and Chris Smith, who also both signed with the Titans for next season). But what we didn't see at the time was a little story buried in the Orange County edition of the LA Times on May 5, wherein one of the Times' staff writers reported that, in addition to Travis, Fullerton would also get a transfer from David Castleton (6'-1" So. PG), who formerly played for Mater Dei in high school, was recruited out of high school to play football at and then ultimately played both basketball and football last season for Orange Coast College.

The article stated "Coach Mark Hill announced that guard David Castleton will transfer to Fullerton.. . . Castleton, who played at Mater Dei, led the Orange Empire Conference in scoring with a 22.6 average, earning all-conference honors. He also played for the OCC football team last season, catching 53 passes for 958 yards and four touchdowns."

What the article didn't say was that because Fullerton is still on NCAA probation for recruiting violations committed when Brad Holland was the head coach, Cal State Fullerton cannot give scholarships to JUCO transfers. The specific penalty imposed back in May of last year prohibits the school from "awarding of initial grants-in-aid in men's basketball to junior college transfer student-athletes during the period from December 1, 1998, through November 30, 2001."

The Register also carried a small story on May 5 about Castleton's commitment to play for Fullerton, with a headline which read "Castleton opts to be a walk-on at CS Fullerton":

Orange Coast College all-conference guard David Castleton (Mater Dei) said Thursday he plans to walk on and play basketball
at Cal State Fullerton, which can't offer scholarships to junior college players because of NCAA sanctions.

Castleton, who was being recruited by Wisconsin and Loyola Marymount, gave a commitment to new Coach Donny Daniels on Wednesday. While an assistant at Utah, Daniels recruited Castleton.

"The tuition is not that bad," Castleton said. "I have two years left, and I don't want to take any chances. ... Coach Daniels hopes to see me start and hopes to see me play a lot."

Castleton led the Orange Empire Conference in scoring with a 22.6 points average."