Meet the 2019 IUFB Recruiting Targets: Ben Castellano

Ben Castellano was recently in Bloomington Image: Twitter.com

Written by: Kris Shankle (@Hoosierkris)

As we start gearing up for the class of 2019, I’ll be trying to show our Hoosier Huddle fans a closer look inside the recruitments of some of the Hoosier staff’s targets. The look of this class and the offers so far, suggest that the staff is looking to get some playmakers for the young stable of quarterbacks for the coming seasons.

The first target that I’ll focus on is Ben Castellano, from Purcellville, VA. He has become a reliable playmaker for the Woodgrove Wolverines, but Castellano’s most impressive skill may be one that doesn’t show up on stat sheets, but transcripts.

Ben is a very smart kid and has excelled in the classroom and when it comes to which school will get his NLI, academics will play a huge role in that decision. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t a good prospect, because he is. The 6’4, 215 pound tight end, lined up everywhere for his team this past season. The skill on and off the field though really helped him have a breakthrough season as a junior.

If you watch his highlights if you got a chance to see how smart he is when it comes to using his hands to create separation at the line. Once he does that, what makes him an even harder cover is the fact that he always finds the creases in the defense. That led to a season in which he caught 61 balls for 804 yards along with 9 touchdowns. Usually in high school even the most talented kids don’t put up huge numbers at the tight end position for some reason, so when I came across Castellano’s it threw me off a bit, but the more and more I watched the more it made sense. His Woodgrove squad didn’t have the success they envisioned at the beginning of the season due to an injury to their starting quarterback, but that helped create depth at the position heading into his senior season. Even with the injury, the Wolverines managed to reach a 6-4(4-2) record.

Now as he finishes up his junior season and heads into the summer of his senior season, Castellano will be working on improving several aspects of his game. He will also be looking to find his future school. At the moment Castellano has 5 offers and has gained interest from several others. He plans on making a few visits before deciding on a school, but to hear more about his future, I’ll share my conversation I had with his father Mike Castellano to give more of a sense of his son’s recruitment and future:

Kris: “First off, what are you guys looking for in a school?”

Mike Castellano: “Good academics, a staff we can trust and to get on the field sooner than later.”

Kris: “Is there a certain major Ben is looking into or is he deciding between a few?”

Mike Castellano: “Business, as of now, but he’s not 100% sure yet.”

Kris: “IU’s Kelley School of Business would be perfect.”

Mike Castellano: “Oh yeah we know. They have one of the best around.”

Kris: “So what did you guys think of your trip to Bloomington for IU’s Junior Day?”

Mike Castellano: “We liked it a lot. The coaches and actually the whole staff treated us very well. Coach Debord as well as Coach Hart were really helpful during the visit.”

Kris: “What schools are recruiting you guys the hardest and any visits planned?”

Mike Castellano: “As of now, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Duke, Yale as well as IU. Yes, we will make a few more visits in the spring. Syracuse and Yale for sure. Maybe Duke and Wake Forest as well, but not sure yet. We also met with Purdue.”

Kris: “Sounds like with some of those schools, Ben is definitely a STUDENT-athlete.”

Mike Castellano: “Yeah, Ben takes all high-level classes and gets mostly all A’s in all those classes.”

Kris: “Ben had a lot of success this past year, falling short of 1,000 yards, so what’s he trying to work on to get better?”

Mike Castellano: “He is mostly working on getting stronger and faster. His bench has improved a lot. He can do 225, 15 times.”

Mike Castellano: “Last year was good for him especially since we lost our starting QB in the first scrimmage, so a Freshman QB played most of the year.”

Kris: “ Do you guys have a decision timeline in place or playing it by ear?”

Mike Castellano: “Mostly playing it by ear, but it won’t last too long.”

Kris: “During Junior Day would you say there was a favorite moment?”

Mike Castellano: “The game (IU basketball game) was great, it was close up until the end.  We enjoyed hanging out with the coaches at the end when most of the other recruits took off.”

Kris: “What are your thoughts on IU as a whole and would you say there is a favorite right now or are you guys waiting on your visits to wrap up?”

Mike Castellano: “IU is full of great people trying to build a winner. I like the vision they have, they just need to start winning more games. IU is definitely high up on the list right now, but still want to visit some ore schools.”

That’s a wrap on Ben Castellano. Keep checking back with us for updates on Ben as well as other  ’19 recruits and beyond. As great as the ’18 class was, this ’19 class has some really talented kids that the Hoosiers staff has made quite the impression on already. I know I’m excited for the future of this program and getting kids like Ben Castellano will go a long way towards achieving bigger success. Hope you all enjoy.