Dunking for Dover

Rafael Castro, or ‘Slim’ to those who know him best, may be paving a path to professional basketball glory. No matter where the game takes him, he will never lose sight of his home court.

By Jim Gorant

The phone pings. It’s another text from Rafael Castro, Jr., the 6’11”, 220-pound former Dover High School basketball star who’s attempting to deliver George Washington University to the NCAA tournament and himself to the NBA. In a previous conversation, Castro had name-checked his family, his trio of best buddies from home—Joseph Dawson, Chris Cave, and Daniel Barker—and three former coaches—Don Fritch, David Hoyt, and Coach Julio, who gave him his nickname, Slim. He’s also recounted his three favorite teenage hangs: The Dover Grill, Dover Dairy Maid, and Luigi’s Pizza. Now,

though, he has more to add. “I got a couple more coaches I want to shout out that were big in the community,” the note reads. They’re important to Castro not just because they meant something to him, but because of their larger role in town. “Morally, I live by the quote, ‘loyalty over royalty,’” he says. “That’s just being loyal to your loved ones, the people you care about, your hometown, and not letting anything come between that, whether it be another opportunity or more money. Just kinda staying grounded.” That’s not just talk. In high school, Castro could have transferred to any number of the high-power, high-visibility prep programs in the state, but he stayed true. “He always said

he wanted to ‘put Dover on the map,’” says his sister Jeimy. That means Castro’s current run of success and his hopes for the future turn on an ironic twist: It all came about because he switched his allegiance. After his senior year in high school, Castro committed to play for Coach Ed Cooley at Providence College. Castro didn’t say so at the time, but he no doubt could relate to his new coach. Cooley had grown up poor in

Providence and had called coaching the Friars his “dream job.” He’d had an unprecedented run of success at the school, going 194–135 over his first 10 seasons with five NCAA tournament appearances. Once Castro arrived on campus, events did not unfold as planned. Cooley designated him as a “redshirt” his first year, meaning he could practice with the team but would not play. “It was a low point,” Castro says. “My senior year was COVID, so I went two years without playing the game I love. I just wanted to hoop.” The following year, he appeared in 26 games but averaged just six minutes per game. Then Cooley left, deserting his hometown to coach the conference rival Georgetown Hoyas.

Castro stuck with Providence, hoping for a fresh start with the Friars’ new coach, Kim

English, but in 2023-24, he saw just nine minutes a game. When the season ended, it

felt as though staying at Providence would likely dim his professional prospects. A transfer seemed like an obvious answer, especially in the current free-agent, pay-for-play ethos of college sports, but moving meant violating his code. What do you do when the core of who you are stands in the way of what you hope to become?

Castro turned to his family, which includes four older siblings who are each about three or four years apart, starting with Jason, 36, then Clara, Jessica, and Jeimy. Their parents, Rafael Sr., a former minor-league pitcher in the Cleveland Guardians system who’s been a stocker at Costco for more than 20 years, and Anis De La Paz, a custodian at a local high school, immigrated from the Dominican Republic and established the family ethos of hard work and staying true to who you are and where you come from.

“Growing up, we didn’t have much,” says Jeimy. “Slim is like the baby of the house, so he saw a lot, and that definitely played a role in who he is today. But ever since he was young, he’s been wise beyond his years, super disciplined, and very down-to-earth. We call him the family therapist, like joking.” For real, Castro majors in psychology and brain

science. “Human behavior is what I really like to study,” he says. “Whenever my family or friends feel like they need to vent, they can come to me, and I feel like I have a natural gift for that kind of thing.” It also helps, he says, with leadership, knowing that “some people think different than others” and figuring out how to talk to individuals in a way they can hear it. Even scouting an opponent is “all tied in with psych.”

“We go to him for everything,” Jeimy says. “A few years ago, I would always reach out to him and ask him for advice. He must have been like 17 or 18 at the time, and it was just the way he spoke; even back then, it just made sense. He kind of helps keep all of us sane and all of us stable.”

Still, as he struggled with playing time and thoughts about his future, Castro talked to his parents about the situation. They assured him that if he continued to lean on his faith and put in the effort, all would come into alignment. In the end, he opted to leave. “I had to do what was best for me, and talking to my family and my teammates, it basically came down to finding more opportunity to showcase my game,” he says.

He entered the transfer portal and heard almost immediately from Chris Caputo, a former assistant coach at the University of Miami who’d recruited Castro in high school. Caputo had since become the head coach at George Washington, and he wanted Castro to join him in D.C. “For him to still reach out to me years later, that just speaks to him still believing in me, which made my decision easier,” Castro says.

Slim slipped right into the starting lineup, and good results followed. He averaged 14.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 29 minutes per game in 2024- 25 as the team went 21-13. In a time when college athletes can earn money by selling the rights to their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), the strong showing raised new opportunities. Castro receives money from the university, but deeper-pocketed programs lurked.

In a move that surprised some observers, but no one who knew him, Castro chose to stay with Caputo. “I feel like sometimes I was in a situation where I was putting my trust into some people, and it may not have been reciprocated,” he says. “Over here, the trust is mutual, and that’s one of the most important things when it comes to playing basketball.” Through the first 17 games of his final college season, Castro is putting up 16 points and 8 rebounds for the 12-5 Revolutionaries. The continued success naturally raises questions about what comes next. Castro doesn’t want to talk NBA too soon, because “if you look too far ahead, you can take each day for granted,” but he thinks his ability to guard multiple positions and rebound fits the mold of Nic Claxton (6’11”, 215 pounds), who was a first-round pick of the Nets in 2019.

Caputo, too, thinks he has a shot at the league, citing his length and athleticism, passing ability, and “better hands than people think.” More importantly, the coach says, is Castro’s “willingness to find and attack his own weaknesses.” “He’s one of the few guys who got better during the season,” Caputo says about Castro’s

junior year. “That’s rare and pretty incredible.” The obvious question is shooting, since most modern NBA big men can sink three-pointers. “The next level will look at his free-throw form to determine if he can extend his range,” says Caputo. “He’s got a pure free throw, and he’s improved every year.” (From 48% two years ago to 69% this season.)

“Definitely,” Castro says about his shooting development. “My Dover peers, they know

them threes were going up in high school. The three-ball is still there, and I still work on it

every day. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

An NBA scout with a Western Conference team likes what he sees, even without the

threes. “He’s definitely got a chance,” he says. “Bigs with his movement skills, defensive

instincts, and production can find a place. He’s the kind of player teams will want to get into their system and work with.” After a pause, he adds, “And the character stuff all checks out,” which is something his current coach already knows. “He’s got a great way about him, a steadiness, and an emotional maturity,” says Caputo.

Since childhood, Castro and his family have returned to the Dominican Republic for a few weeks every year around the holidays, where they stay with his grandparents and connect with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins who still live there. He even suited up for the Dominican Republic at the 2019 Centro Basketball U17 Championship. “Staying in touch with our culture is a big part of who we are,” says Jeimy. “That’s another thing that I love about him. He likes to uplift our community whenever he can,

especially if it has to do with basketball.”

According to Jeimy, Castro has put a chunk of his NIL toward renovating his grandparents’ house and constructing another house his

family is building nearby. “That house is going to be a place where our future children will

be able to congregate, and we’re going to be able to have more family moments and create more memories,” Jeimy says. “To know that he played a huge part in expediting that process financially, it’s huge, and it goes to show that he’s a super-giving person.”

Back on the text chain, Slim is most interested in doling out props. His revised list of tributes includes David Holmes, Fred Phillips, Scotty Mack, Mike Morgan, Justin Hartman, Mike McDonald, and Billy Connors. Each of them gave him something, and he wants to give back even more.

“Being from Dover made me everything I am today,” he says. “Compared to everywhere else in the county, it’s in its own little bubble, especially as far as minorities, but it’s still not that well-known. They’ve got to have a face to it. I’d love to be the face of Dover.”