Bartlesville Team Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On October 1st, basketball practices opened up all across the state of Oklahoma. We're getting closer and closer to scrimmages starting and games tipping off in November and early December. Over the next several weeks, we'll be taking an in-depth look at the upcoming season with plenty of team previews, players to watch features, scrimmage breakdowns and much more! Keep it locked into Prep Hoops Oklahoma as we'll have new preview content dropping on the site every single day!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this preview, we take a look at the Bartlesville Bruins in Class 6A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2021-2022 RESULTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bartlesville Bruins have been counting down the days from late February to now so they can forget about the 2021-2022 season and how it ended abruptly. The Bruins went 12-11 last season and were upset by Tahlequah in the first round of the playoffs, getting bounced of the playoffs on the first night. The Bruins struggled down the stretch, losing five of their final six games, including the playoff loss. The main issue for the Bruins was the conference schedule. Bartlesville is in the Frontier Conference and it was arguably as strong as it's been in recent memory last season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bruins began the season in the Thanksgiving Hoopfest and would go 1-1 down in Texas. They'll challenge themselves again this year at the Hoopfest, along with several other marquee events in December. While the Bruins had an up and down season, they did watch star guard [player_tooltip player_id='1367213' first='David' last='Castillo'] take the next step to becoming one of the best guards in the country. Last season, Castillo averaged nearly 25 points per game. He was one of the best players in the state and the Bruins get two more years of him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2022-2023 OUTLOOK</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We mentioned that the Bruins were going to be tested early on. Before the season begins, they'll head down to Wichita Falls for the annual Elite 14 Showcase scrimmage. That features some of the better teams from Oklahoma and Texas. The Bruins will once again participate in the Thanksgiving Hoopfest in late November. They'll also head up to Missouri for the Norm Stewart Classic. And they'll wrap up December by participating in the Tournament Of Champions in Tulsa, which also features defending state champions from 6A, 5A, 4A and 2A. Needless to say, we're going to find out pretty quickly where this Bartlesville team is at when it comes to the conversation of contenders in Class 6A.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three starters return for this year's Bartlesville bunch. The team is headlined by Castillo, who appears to be on the path to becoming the latest McDonald's All American to come out of Oklahoma. And we mentioned earlier how the Bruins were knocked around during the conference part of their schedule last season. This season, they plan to get a little revenge as one of the better teams in Class 6A on the east side of the state and in their conference. They went 7-8 against conference opponents last season. We expect that to not only be a winning record this year, but they should have one of the better records in the conference.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>PLAYERS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_6356b79db9a65","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1156120"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"u003cp class=u0022p1u0022u003eOne of the key pieces returning for the Bruins is senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1156120' first='Aadhi' last='Ayyappan']. Not only did Ayyappan average 11 points per game last year as a junior, but he was one of the better defenders on the team. And in addition to being an outstanding defender, Ayyappan would end up doing a lot of damage from the perimeter as a shooter. Ayyappan comes into this season with a lot of momentum after having a successful offseason playing grassroots basketball. And with so much attention this season going towards stopping or slowing down Castillo, that will certainly open up opportunities for Ayyappan and his teammates to make plays on the offensive side of the floor. We think this senior guard has a good chance to be an u0022X-Factoru0022 type player for the Bruins this season.u003c/pu003e","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"edit"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_6356b7d0b9a66","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1367213"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"u003cp class=u0022p1u0022u003eSo when it comes to players to watch heading into the 2022-2023 season, not only is junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1367213' first='David' last='Castillo'] the player to watch with Bartlesville, he's one of the top players to watch in the state. He averaged nearly 25 points per game a year ago and he's back to take his game to the next level this year as a junior. Castillo has emerged as a truly national prospect, being recruited by schools all over the country. He also represented Team USA earlier this year. And as we mentioned before, he's on the same paths that former Booker T Washington guard Bryce Thompson and Norman North guard Trae Young were on before they became All Americans. But the one thing we want to see from Castillo this year is him lifting up his team. We know he can absolutely fill it up every night, but we want to see the team to start having success along with him.u003c/pu003e","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"edit"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>MORE NAMES TO KNOW</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dayton McCall - 2023 Guard<br>Michael Smith III - 2023 Guard/Forward</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->