Castro Wraps Up Record-Breaking Career

Chaminade University senior guard Destiny Castro is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the NCAA Division II basketball in Hawaii with 1,616 points. She also ranks fourth in career scoring in the state of Hawaii regardless of division, passing the University of Hawaii’s Kamilah Jackson (2010-14) at 1,548 points. To reach third, she will need to overcome Raylene Howard’s record of 1,786 points with two games left in regular season. 

As Castro has two games left as a Silversword, she holds a total of 18 team records, including all-time leading scorer (1,616 points and counting) for the university. Her 16.8 points per game is the highest all time, and her career total of 269 steals (with 3.5 a game) are also CUH bests. She also holds five single-game marks, most notably for her single-game record of 40 points against Holy Names in January 2019. 

While Castro has achieved all of these individual accolades, the Chaminade women’s basketball team has struggled in a 4-22 season (4-16 Pac West Conference) and has been just 16-82 overall in the last four years. But, with two games left in the regular season, starting with Hawaii Pacific University on Tuesday, Castro has an opportunity to push her career bests even further.

“We are still playing against some of the best teams in the league, we are still competing against some of the best players in the league, so it doesn’t sour any of my achievements,” Castro said recently. “I do wish we won a little more, but we play to the fullest every game and we play til the last buzzer, so that’s all I could be proud of.”

Four years ago, Castro didn’t anticipate coming to Chaminade and setting all the records she currently holds.

As a freshman in 2016-17, Castro’s just hoped she could find a way to help the team.

“Coming in, I didn’t have big expectations, all I knew is that I wanted to contribute to the team in the best way I could,” said Castro, a 5-foot-6 guard from Guam. “I guess freshman year my coach thought it was defense, so coming in I was just trying to be a team player, help my team out in any way and just try to start off as strong as I could.”

Castro started her first game as a Silversword with 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers and 0 assists spread across her 14 minutes of playing time. Just seven games later, she exploded for 22 points with 9 rebounds against Dominican. Throughout her freshman season, Castro was honored as the Pac West Freshman of the Week five times. She ended her freshman season as the team’s third-leading scorer and became the first Silversword women’s basketball player to be named the Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Year.

In her sophomore and junior seasons, Castro played and started 47 games. Her sophomore year she led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and field goal percentage. She ranked 11th nationally for her average 3.1 steals per game and earned PacWest Second Team honors after posting one of the top single seasons in program history. Throughout her junior year, Castro moved up to seventh nationally for her average steals per game and became the first player in program history to earn D2CCA All-West Region honors. She was also a First Team All-PacWest player, the university’s first since 2007.

Even after a plethora of awards, honors, broken records, and individual recognition, she still fulfills her roll as a team player.

“She always wants you to do your best,” said sophomore forward Cheyenne Ardona. “She always corrects you if you’re wrong, [but] she tries to help you all the time. If you’re messing up she will tell you do this, do that. She is very supportive.”

Whether she is at practice or in the game, Castro wants to succeed with her teammates.

“No matter what games or drills that we are doing, she wants to win,” said CUH head coach Arthur King, who is in his third season. “That’s her playing style. In the [event] that we don’t get wins, she finds victories within the game.”