COLUMBUS, OH (WTKR) — In the offseason before the 2022-2023 season, Jack Castleberry was just getting used to a new job. The Virginia Beach native and Cape Henry Collegiate graduate had accepted an assistant coaching position at Queen's University in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Then late in the coaching carousel calendar, Tobin Anderson was named head coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University. An opportunity opened up for Castleberry on the FDU staff, one he decided to take on.
Nearly one year later, Castleberry is a part of history as he helped lead the No. 16 seeded Knights to a historic win over No. 1 seed Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. It's just the second time in the history of the tournament a 16 seed has won a game, following UMBC stunner over Virginia in 2018.
"As a coach, this is like a coaching dream," he told News 3 Sports on Saturday. "It all happened so fast, it's hard to take in."
Castleberry described the journey for FDU as "surreal." Just a year prior, the program won just four games and the school fired its head coach. The Knights advanced to the Northeast Conference title game only to lose to Merrimack, but won the automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Tournament because Warriors were ineligible.
"We got hired in May, but we started thinking about winning right away," Castleberry said.
A viral clip made its way around social media where Anderson claimed, "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat these guys." Castleberry believed it too, but says to actually experience it still has not sunk in.
"It almost take you a second to realize this actually just happened," he said. "I just remember looking over into the crowd and finding my wife, kids, and my dad and just kind of putting my hands up in the air and just going, 'This is unbelievable.'"
The joy and celebration not lasting too long, though, with the Knights now having to get ready for ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic.
"I'm sure everybody in America had that in their bracket," Castleberry joked.
Whether FDU does become the first ever No. 16 seed to move into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, Castleberry knows what happened is beyond special. It is a win that will be remembered by him, his team, and the history books.
"Everything you worked for played out the way you wanted it to play out on the biggest stage that you could possibly be on," he said. "Hopefully we can keep this run going as long as we possibly can and keep surprising people."
FDU tips off with FAU on Sunday at 7:45 p.m. on truTV.
