A former standout player and assistant coach in the region, Justin Caldwell enters his first season as assistant coach at Cal U in 2016-17
Caldwell spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Glenville State following a stint playing professionally in Luxembourg. He spent three seasons of his college career at West Virginia Wesleyan before transferring to Glenville State for his senior year, playing under then-assistant coach Kent McBride at both schools.
In 2015, Caldwell helped Glenville State capture the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament Championship, which marked the first league championship for the program in over 40 years. The Pioneers entered the league tournament as the fifth seed before upsetting top-seeded West Liberty, who was No. 4 in the country, in the semifinals and defeating second-seeded Fairmont State in the finals. Glenville State then made a consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament before finishing the year with a 22-11 overall record.
Over the past three years, Caldwell helped mentor five All-MEC selections while an assistant coach with the Pioneers. Forward Lamar Mallory was a consensus all-region honoree as a senior during the 2013-14 season after averaging 18.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while leading the league with a .681 field-goal percentage. The following year, guard Donte Morales was an All-MEC First-Team selection after ranking fifth in the conference in scoring at 18.3 points per game behind a .473 three-point field-goal percentage, which was second-best in the league. Morales was also tabbed the MEC Tournament MVP in 2015 after being the only player in the league to score over 70 points in the tournament.
Caldwell was one of the top scorers in the country while playing for both West Virginia Wesleyan and Glenville State. He was an All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Second-Team selection as both a junior and senior after being named to the All-WVIAC Freshman Team during the 2007-08 campaign. Over his four years, he totaled nearly 2,000 points and over 250 assists while playing in 110 career games. He scored nearly 1,400 points in three seasons with the Bobcats and finished fourth in the WVIAC in scoring as a junior with 20.3 points per game. In his lone year with the Pioneers, Caldwell ranked fifth in NCAA Division II with 23.7 points per game and finished third with a .914 free-throw percentage.
Following his collegiate career, Caldwell played for the BBC Bascharage Hedgehogs in Luxembourg for two seasons.
Caldwell coached various youth teams during the summer while in college and also overseas. After the conclusion of his playing career, he served as an assistant coach at Wyoming East High School in West Virginia for the 2012-13 season.
A native of West Virginia, Caldwell was a two-time, first-team all-state selection while starring at Wyoming East High School. He helped lead the Warriors to the Class AA state championship as a senior in 2007.
Caldwell earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from Glenville State in 2013. He resides in Morgantown, West Virginia.
