Fairleigh Dickinson has named Jack Castleberry as the school’s new men’s basketball coach.
Castleberry will become the program’s ninth head coach, replacing Tobin Anderson, who was reportedly hired at Iona earlier Tuesday to replace Rick Pitino. Castleberry served as an assistant on Anderson’s staff.
The Knights, as the No. 16 seed in the East Region of this year’s men’s NCAA tournament, pulled off a shocking upset against No. 1-seed Purdue under Anderson, who only spent one year as the program’s head coach.
Bradford Hurlbut, the Knights athletic director, referred to Castleberry as the “perfect choice” to lead the program after Anderson.
“I have watched him [Jack Castleberry] closely for the last 10 months, as if he was doing a live audition,” Hurlbut said in a statement. “The way Jack interacts with our players on and off the court, coupled with the respect that they have for him, made him the perfect choice to keep the FDU momentum headed in the right direction. Like Tobin, Jack is a terrific recruiter, having played a major role in landing our impressive incoming class. But most importantly is his high moral character and how he matches our core values: Integrity, Pride, Resilience, Respect and Unity.”
Castleberry, who also has coached at Siena and Tennessee-Martin, came to FDU in May 2022 after serving as a longtime assistant at his alma mater, The Citadel. While at The Citadel, Castleberry served as the program’s acting head coach in a matchup against Duke on Nov. 22, 2021.