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How about Eric Castro! He was awesome Friday night. 18 rebounds? ORU wasn't that small inside, and that's a lot of rebounds even for practice, or when there's nobody else on the floor. He kept after it the whole game.

He and Simpson look like the future (along with Bryan Hopkins) of the team. A little maturity and more strength, and they're going to be great.

They sure didn't look like freshmen against Oral Roberts. Castro was a rebounding machine, and Simpson was scoring at will in the second half. He wants to lead the WAC in blocked shots as a FRESHMAN, and he's off to a good start.

Visiting briefly with Castro and Simpson after the game, the thing that struck me was their attitudes. They spoke of a pact made among the freshmen (Castro, SImpson and guard Justin Isham) under which they agreed that for the team to be successful, they had to step up and play more prominent roles. They also clearly enjoyed both their success against ORU and the attention they got for their success. Each had a smile a mile wide. They both seemed to understand the value of working exceptionally hard, and to appreciate the accolades that come from the payoff of that hard work.

Tip of the hat to Isham, too. He has a calcium build-up in his knee and went down hard, banging the knee [deleted] the floor. But even though he was visibly limping, he finished the rest of the game. These guys seem to have some real grit.