Girls basketball: Harvest Christian's Castro commits to NIU
Playing in the Class 1A supersectional at Lewis University last February, Harvest Christian's Paulina Castro caught the eye of Lewis coach Lisa Carlsen.
At that time, Castro was being courted by many Division I schools but Carlson inquired as to whether the 5-foot-7 guard would consider a D-II school.
Little did either party know then that Carlsen would end up being the new head women's basketball coach at Northern Illinois University, a position she accepted on June 30.
And now, Castro will be a Huskie as well. The Lions' senior gave her verbal commitment to Carlsen and NIU recently after attending an NIU football game and touring the DeKalb campus.
"I'm very happy and very excited," said Castro, who also visited and had offers from Miami (OH), Indiana State and Northern Iowa as well as interest from Toledo and Central Michigan, among many others.
"The coaches showed interest in me when coach Carlsen and coach John (McGinty) went to NIU they kept in touch with me and said they were still very interested in me. They came to see me at an open gym two weeks ago and I got the offer from them then. I went to a football game and got to tour the entire campus and got to hang out with the girls on the team and I told my parents then that this is where I want to be. The coaches were very nice and made us feel very comfortable. It was a great experience."
Carlsen's staff at NIU includes former Hampshire standout Stephanie Smith, the only coach Carlsen retained from NIU's previous coaching staff.
After playing her first two high school seasons at Montini, Castro transferred to Harvest Christian last year and helped lead the Lions to a 25-7 season and the Class 1A Elite Eight. She averaged 20.8 points per game, made 122 3-pointers, shot 87.9 percent from the free-throw line and had 107 assists and 107 steals.
"It's the perfect situation," said Harvest coach Rich DeTamble. "I couldn't be prouder of her. It's a win-win for everybody and it was large for us to get this quality of a school for Paulina. We're just so excited for her but it didn't come easy. She did what she had to do and she's worked incredibly hard for this."
Castro, a first team Associated Press all-stater, plays for Mac Irvin's Lady Fire AAU team. Mac Irvin is the husband of highly successful Whitney Young coach Corry Irvin, a Larkin graduate.
"Coach Mac, coach Corry and coach DeTamble have had a huge influence on this," said Castro, whose personal trainer is former area boys basketball standout Cully Payne, whose dad, Kent, coached Paulina Castro's dad, Pablo, at St. Edward.
"I'm super blessed," Paulina Castro said, "but I couldn't have done any of this without my parents and my coaches. They've done so much for me and I'm just super excited to go to NIU."