SILVER CITY, N.M. – It’s a tough decision no matter where in your life you are. Should I stay home? Should I go to college somewhere out of state? Is this school the right fit for me? Both Terrez Scott (Santa Clarita, CA/Valencia) and Marcos Castrillo (San Francisco, CA/Pinole Valley) had to face those decisions looking at a school they both heard about in different ways and finding out if it was the right fit for them.
The path to Western New Mexico came different ways for both of them, but ended the same. Scott suffered an injury during his sophomore season at College of the Canyons out in Santa Clarita, Calif., while Castrillo had a close friend back home and uncle-in-law that knew of Coach Jeff Law and thought it would be a good fit for him.
Coach Law has seen both players come to WNMU and provide immediate impacts for the team.
“We will miss Marcos tremendously. Not only has he come to Western and grown into a fine player, leading us in many categories, he has become a strong all around student in the classroom and socially being actively involved in Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the past two years. He has worked on improving himself in every phase of life. I am proud to have worked with him and I wish him all the best that life can offer.”
“Terrez came to us two years ago. His experience on the floor and life experience gave us much need leadership that is very difficult to come by. He single handedly kept us in games and made the opposition crazy on how to guard him and us. He has done very well in two years here. He has helped us lay down a foundation that may not have paid dividends immediately, but our future, which I believe is bright, can be traced back to his, and Marcos’ hard work.”
Scott was in the midst of helping College of the Canyons advance into the playoffs when he suffered an injury he thought would keep him from ever playing again.
“I really didn’t know at the time where I was going to end up because of my injury,” Scott recalled. “I lost a few scholarships due to my broken foot, but through all of that WNMU stuck with me!”
College of the Canyons Head Coach Howard Fisher remembers the impact Scott had on his program throughout his career there.
“Terrez was a leader for us and after he took a few years off between his freshman and sophomore seasons, I think he gained a greater level of appreciation for the game. When he came back for his final season, he had a different level of maturity and helped lead us to a conference title. It has been fun to watch his maturation process evolve, as his personality is infectious to everyone that he meets.”
Castrillo was helping Merritt College out in the Bay Area to an 18-13 season as they advanced to the Final Four of the State Playoffs his sophomore year.
“With what I heard from both my close friend back home and my uncle-in-law, I trusted them that this would be a good fit for me,” Castrillo recalled.
Current Merritt College Head Coach Keenan McMiller originally recruited Castrillo to the college as an assistant coach before moving into the head coaching position this past year.
“Marcos was a sleeper prospect coming out of Pinole Valley High School. Marcos was 6-foot-4, 160 pounds and we grey-shirted him his first year of college. He grew three inches to 6-foot-7 and gained 25 pounds to weigh 185. Marcos worked extremely hard in the classroom, weight room and on his basketball skills. Marcos is a testimony to hard work and determination. I am very proud of Marcos!”
While Scott was going through his ordeal of dealing with an injury, his coach at College of the Canyons and the rest of the staff begin preparing him for play in the RMAC. Although the Mustang season hasn’t gone as he would like, he has enjoyed his time getting an additional two years in college.
“Even though our season didn’t turn out like I would have liked, I am grateful for the experience and the opportunity I was granted,” Scott said. “I have been able to play for WNMU and work on getting my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.”
While getting his criminal justice degree will help, Scott still hopes that there will be a chance that he can once again further his playing career – possibly overseas.
“After I get my degree and the season is over, I am looking forward to continuing my career on the professional level overseas,” Scott added. “I’ve dreamed of playing at the collegiate level my entire life and now that I have made it, I am ready to take the next step!”
The duo have been stalwarts for the Mustangs since they arrived as juniors last season and the pair continues to lead the team in almost every category this season. One or the other has led the team in scoring in 14 games so far this season and they both average in double-figures in scoring with Castrillo tallying 13.1 and Scott at 12.2.
With their careers winding down, both have lived through quotes that have carried them through not only this season, but for the years to come.
“Although my career at WNMU was definitely full of ups and downs, my dad always told me ‘nothing comes easy, you have to constantly work at it,'” Castrillo said. “And in these two years, that is exactly what I did; constantly worked on myself on and off the court. Now that the end of my career is coming, I can definitely say I grew up to the best of my abilities.”
“Never stop working for what you want in life because you are the only person who can stop yourself from achieving what you want,” Scott said. “I fell in love with the game not because of the game itself, but because the game changed me for the better.”
Night in and night out, Mustang fans became accustom to watching the duo perform at a high level. Now they will have a chance to watch a few more before this duo sets off on another challenge awaiting them after finding success at WNMU.
