SHIPPENSBURG — John Castello and Andrew Recchia experienced the Mars boys basketball team's run to the 2016 state championship game from different perspectives.

Castello was a senior that year and averaged 18.2 points and 13 rebounds per game while earning Butler Eagle co-Player of the Year honors with teammate Robby Carmody.

“I remember Coach (Rob) Carmody and how he conducted that team,” said Castello. “We had a tournament in Las Vegas early in the season and that experience brought the whole team together.

“In the state semifinal against Bishop McDevitt in Altoona, we realized in the second half that we were going to win and it was like, 'Wow, we're going to the state championship game!”

Recchia was on the freshman team and took in the state final in Hershey from the stands.

“I practiced with the varsity team after the freshman season was over,” he said. “John was the leader of that team. Everything ran through him.”

Castello and Recchia are now teammates at Shippensburg University. The former is a senior forward who scored his 1,000th career point last season and Recchia is a freshman point guard who is being red-shirted.

They're both making the trip this weekend to Slippery Rock University, where the Red Raiders (4-1) will face The Rock (2-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday.

“It's always nice to come back to that part of the state,” said Castello, who leads Shippensburg with averages of 17.4 points and 6.8 boards. “We'll have some family and friends in the stands.”

With three years separating the two, Castello and Recchia became acquainted through basketball thanks to fall leagues and pick-up games while the former was still in high school. Shippensburg was one of a number of schools that showed interest in Recchia and before making his choice, he naturally sought Castello's input.

“I just told him that it's a great school in a great location,” Castello said. “You can get a great education and the basketball team is a family here.”

All of which helped sell the PSAC-East school to Recchia.“Knowing there was going to be a familiar face right when I started helped a lot,” he said. “John showed me around, told me what classes to take and it was great just having someone to hang out with from the start.“John has always been very supportive of me and I appreciate him very much for that.”Castello was in Recchia's shoes just three years ago. Red Raiders' head coach Chris Fite helped make the transition a smooth one for both of them.“I remember Coach Fite telling me and the other freshmen that year that all of us were able to do a lot of things on the court in high school and we could do the same in college. It's just, at this level, everything is amplified.“He did a great job acclimating us to the college game.”Recchia already has much respect for his head coach.“He's very understanding and is teaching me as I go along,” he said. “If I do something wrong in practice, he tells me and I work on getting it right the next time.”By the time Recchia sees the floor in an actual game, Castello will be a former player at Shippensburg. But he can already see glimpses of what Recchia will bring to the program.“He's very skilled and extremely knowledgeable,” Castello said. “He's a dangerous player and I think his skills are going to translate well to the college game.”Until then, Recchia will bide his time. He realizes the experience he's currently getting in practice will be the foundation for whatever success he meets with over the next four years.But Recchia was a three-year starter at Mars and played a major role in the Planets reaching their second state title contest in 2018.Watching from the bench is foreign to a player who seemed right in the middle of everything the last three years.“When everybody is on the court warming up, that's the hardest time for me,” said Recchia. “I want to be out there with the guys, getting ready to play in the game.“But I know that (the redshirt) is best for the future, for me and the team. I think about still playing basketball four years from now and I know it was the right decision.”

Castello

Recchia