Stephon Castle is rapidly rising the ranks of the most successful UConn products in the NBA.
The 21-year-old in his second pro season, just two years removed from celebrating the 2024 national championship as a freshman in Storrs, will be the 10th former Husky to be part of an NBA Finals run and the first since Hall of Famer Ray Allen in 2014. Allen is the last Husky to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, having done so with the Miami Heat in 2013.
Castle, proving himself as a budding star with the San Antonio Spurs alongside 7-foot-4 French sensation Victor Wembanyama, had 16 points with six rebounds and six assists on Saturday night to beat the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder – coached by former UConn student manager Mark Daigneault – in a thrilling seven-game Western Conference Finals series.
“It’s surreal. It don’t feel real,” Castle told reporters in Oklahoma City on Saturday after a 111-103 win. “It’s something we’ve been dreaming about, but having to go out there and earn it is a way better feeling than having it given to you. It feels really good, but we’ve got to understand that our job isn’t finished yet, so we can’t be satisfied.”
.@StephonCastle 🤝 @paigebueckers1 pic.twitter.com/PlLJTJsa74
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) May 31, 2026
Only five former UConn players have won an NBA championship ring.
Castle, the 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year, finished the series averaging 18.0 points, 7.6 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and is entering the NBA Finals tied with Lebron James for the second-most playoff games (nine, two behind Magic Johnson) with at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists before turning 22 years old.
Castle’s Spurs will host the New York Knicks for the first two games of the NBA Finals, beginning on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ABC). Games 3 and 4 will take place in Madison Square Garden, which hasn’t hosted a finals game since 1999, when the Spurs took down the Knicks in five games.
The Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1973.
Here’s a look at the nine previous Huskies whose teams have made the NBA Finals:
Ray Allen (2008, 2010, 2013, 2014)
The only UConn men’s player in the Basketball Hall of Fame, Allen made the NBA Finals four times, twice each with the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. Teamed up with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Allen helped the Celtics to their first title since 1986 when he made seven 3-pointers to win Game Six and clinch the 2008 series over the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol got their revenge in 2010, beating Allen’s Celtics in seven games.
Allen signed with the Heat ahead of the 2012-13 season and helped Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to their second-consecutive championship. He famously saved the series against the Spurs with a corner 3-pointer that tied Game Six with seconds remaining and led to an overtime victory for the Heat, who went on to win in seven games for his second championship. Allen made the Finals again with the Heat in 2014 and lost to the Spurs in five games, which ended up being the final five games of his career.
UConn’s only two-time NBA champion, Allen averaged 13.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists over 25 career Finals games.
Caron Butler (2011)
Butler played 14 seasons in the NBA and was a key part of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks team that ultimately upset James, Wade and Bosh in the Finals, though he ruptured his patellar tendon in January of that year and was unable to play out the season. He started and averaged 15 points in 29 games that season before the injury.
Donyell Marshall (2007)
The unanimous 1994 Big East Player of the Year, Marshall made one Finals appearance in his 15-year NBA career as a member of the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers, who were swept by the Spurs in four games. Marshall played 15.3 minutes per game off the bench and averaged 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in that series.
Richard ‘Rip’ Hamilton (2004, 2005)
The second men’s player to have his jersey number retired to the rafters in Gampel Pavilion, Hamilton’s 14-year NBA career featured a pair of Finals appearances with the Detroit Pistons. The 1999 NCAA champion averaged 21.4 points per game in leading the Pistons to a stunning five-game Finals win over Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers in 2004. He returned to the Finals the next season and lost to the Spurs in seven games.
Hamilton averaged 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 12 career NBA Finals games.
Donny Marshall (2002, 2003)
A second round draft pick in 1995, Marshall’s unconventional pro career included an NBA Finals appearance with the New Jersey Nets in 2002 after a short stint with the Connecticut Pride of the CBA. He didn’t see much action in the series as the Nets were swept by the Lakers. The Nets returned to the Finals in 2003, though Marshall didn’t see any game action as they lost to the Spurs in six games.
Kevin Ollie (2001)
Before returning to Storrs and coaching the Huskies to their fourth NCAA championship in 2014, Ollie made one Finals appearance in his 13-year NBA career. He saw limited action as a reserve for the Philadelphia 76ers as they fell to the Lakers in 2001. Ollie averaged 1.0 point, 0.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists in the five-game series.
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Travis Knight (2000)
A seven-year pro, Knight was part of the Lakers team that won the 2000 NBA Finals in six games over the Indiana Pacers. Coming off the bench in 63 games that season, Knight played limited minutes in four Finals games and averaged 1.3 points and 0.5 rebounds as Shaq and Kobe won their first NBA title.
Scott Burrell (1998)
A role player on Michael Jordan’s last championship squad, Burrell averaged 3.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals as the Chicago Bulls took down the Utah Jazz in six games in 1998. He played over 24 minutes in a blowout Game Three victory, coming one rebound shy of a double-double.
Clifford Robinson (1990, 1992)
The first UConn player to appear in the NBA Finals, Robinson reached the sport’s biggest stage in his first year in the league as the Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Pistons in 1990. He returned to the Finals two years later but ran into Jordan in the beginning of the Bulls’ dynasty and lost the 1992 series in six games. Robinson averaged 7.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 11 Finals games.
