Jack Castleberry, who has been a member of The Citadel’s basketball staff for the last five seasons, has been elevated to Associate Head Coach and will continue in his role as the program’s Recruiting Coordinator as announced by Head Coach Duggar Baucom.
Castleberry, who played at VMI between 2003-07, including under Baucom for his last two seasons, has served as an assistant coach for the last four seasons after arriving as the Director of Basketball Operations in 2016-17. In his five seasons with The Citadel, he has helped lead the Bulldogs to three Southern Conference tournament victories, tying the program record for the most under a single head coach in program history. In 2020-21, Castleberry helped to lead the Bulldogs to a 13-win season, the program’s most in a single season since 2009-10. This season saw a seven-win improvement from the 2019-20 campaign, the second-largest among all Division I programs.
“Jack is a rising star in this profession and an incredibly valuable member of our staff. I have been fortunate to have Jack in my life for the last 16 years, first as a player and now as a coach,” Baucom said. “Since his arrival at The Citadel five years ago he has made a positive impact on our program and our culture here. Jack is a continual learner, a tireless recruiter and serves each day as an outstanding role model for our cadet-athletes. I have no doubt that he will be an excellent head coach in the near future.”
“I am extremely grateful to Coach Baucom for this opportunity. He has had a profound impact on my life as well as my professional career, and I’m lucky that I get to work for my greatest mentor,” Castleberry said. “I am proud to be a part of a phenomenal staff and I am excited about the future of our program.”
Since being moved into his assistant coaching role, Castleberry has been instrumental in player development for the Bulldogs, most notably through his work with Matt Frierson, Kaiden Rice and Hayden Brown. While working with Castleberry, Frierson and Rice posted three of the top five single-season marks in school history for three-pointers made and finished first and third, respectively, on the career charts in that same category. Brown enjoyed one of the strongest individual seasons in program history in 2020-21, returning from an injury-shortened season to become the first Bulldog to average a double-double since 1970-71 with 18.8 points and 10.5 rebounds en route to consensus First Team All-SoCon and All-District honors.
As the program’s recruiting coordinator since 2018, Castleberry has led the addition of three talented classes for The Citadel, including 2020-21 regular starters Fletcher Abee, Stephen Clark and Tyler Moffe. Others from these recruiting classes include Rudy Fitzgibbons III, Brady Spence and Brent Davis, who have also made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs.
“We’ve been meticulous in our approach to finding student-athletes that thrive on the court, in the classroom and in the South Carolina Corps of Cadets,” Castleberry said of the team’s recruiting efforts. “We’ve recruited uniquely driven individuals that represent our school and our program in a first-class manner and I’m thankful we get to coach such impressive young men.”
Castleberry promoted to Associate Head Coach at The Citadel
