FDU basketball to wear jersey patch for special cause this season

Like a lot of men’s college basketball teams, FDU will debut a patch on its jerseys when the 2026-27 season gets underway next week.

Unlike just about everyone else, that patch is not a corporate sponsorship designed to make money. Head coach Jack Castleberry had something else in mind.

“What if we found a cause and championed that cause?” he said in pitching his idea to athletics director Jason Young. “It would be an opportunity for us to do some good here.”

When the Knights’ take the court at third-ranked Illinois Monday, and for the remainder of their schedule, the upper right corner of their jerseys will read “NDSS” and in smaller letters, “National Down Syndrome Society.”

The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit’s mission, “to create a world where individuals with Down syndrome thrive,” is close to Castleberry’s heart. His youngest daughter, 2-year-old Avery, has Down syndrome. And for Castleberry, his wife Kara and their two older daughters (ages 7 and 5), it’s been an eye-opening experience.

“I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding out there about what Down syndrome actually is and what the lives are like for those who have Down syndrome,” said Castleberry, who lives in River Edge in Bergen County. “It’s not this terrible thing that I believe most people think it is.”

When he and Kara found out Avery would be born with Down syndrome, “it shakes you a little bit” he said.

But as he explained, borrowing a line from a book he read on the subject, that was the last bad day.

“I can’t speak to everybody’s experience, but my kid is the happiest kid of the three I have,” he said. “She is such a joy. I never thought I would say something like this, but when you’re in front of her, no matter who you are, she sees you. She looks into your soul and there’s a genuine connection. That, I certainly didn’t expect.

“You walk into the room with her and your day just brightens up.”

Part of Castleberry’s motivation was that he noticed “stuff out there (on social media) about Down syndrome that wasn’t accurate, and to me that was sad,” he said, adding that some of it reached the point where “I felt a little bit threatened for my daughter.”

Then he realized he’s got a pretty big forum – FDU’s opener at Illinois will be nationally televised by the Big Ten Network – and the ability to do something about that.

“I genuinely proud, and I’m thankful that our administration is not only willing to consider something like this, but adamant about us doing it,” Castleberry said.

For the National Down Syndrome Society, this partnership is the first of its kind.

“It was really nice to be able to connect with Jack, and that means so much to us because families are at the core of what we do,” said Michelle Sagan, the nonprofit’s director of communications and marketing, who has a sister with Down syndrome. “We hope people see the patch, hear about Down syndrome on the broadcasts, and it really helps people understand our population.”

The partnership will extend beyond a patch. Sagan said the National Down Syndrome Society will be bringing a contingent to FDU’s Jan. 30 home game against Stonehill, which also has a member of the coaching staff with a Down syndrome connection.

“This is monumental, because visibility matters so much,” Sagan said. “If people don’t have a personal connection to Down syndrome like Jack does, this is a starting point for learning more.”

Before moving forward with the patch, Castleberry wanted to make sure his players were on board.

“They know my daughter has Down syndrome, and I had a long conversation with them about it,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t want you guys to be uncomfortable, but this is how we can help.'”

Then he wanted to hear what they thought.

“We have a player on our team who has a relative with a developmental disability,” Castleberry said. “When I finished talking he spoke up and said, ‘Hey coach, make my patch the biggest.'”

To learn more about the National Down Syndrome Society, visit www.ndss.org.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: FDU basketball to wear jersey patch for special cause this season