Castro honored for strong academic performance

Eric Castro’s last three-point attempt came up a little short Wednesday night. The next day, the sophomore center received an award for not coming up short in the classroom.

Castro was one of five players to be named to the Verizon Academic District VI basketball team. The team was selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Student-athletes must hold sophomore status both academically and athletically, have a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or top reserve competing in at least 50 percent of the team’s games. District VI includes all NCAA Division I schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Players are chosen by the directors in each district.

Castro has started most of the season and has played in all 24 games. Health problems for senior center Nigel Smith have forced Castro into a bigger role than anticipated. At 6-feet-9-inches, 250 pounds, Castro has taken up a lot of space in the paint for SMU.

Castro averages 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest, but those are not the averages that got him the honor. Academically, Castro proves that his strength extends beyond the court. He has a 3.94 grade point average in sociology. Other academic all-district selections were Omar Seli Mance of Rice, Josh Daniel of Texas-Arlington, Tulsa’s Jason Parker and Kevin Mitchell of Texas-Pan American. Along with the other four selections, Castro will now be added to the national ballot for academic all-America honors.