Sometime after midnight, several hours after the defining moment of his coaching career, Matthew Driscoll finally walked through the front door of his Jacksonville, Fla., home.

Sunday had been long and rewarding day.

Dricoll's North Florida (23-11) team qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history after defeating South Carolina Upstate in the championship of the Atlantic Sun Tournament.

Driscoll, a Bellevue native, Northgate and Slippery Rock graduate and former La Roche coach, will be one of possibly four men with WPIAL ties leading their teams into the tournament next week, joining Kentucky's John Calipari (Moon) and Arizona's Sean Miller (Blackhawk). Dayton's Archie Miller, Sean's brother, could be the fourth by the end of the week.

Every TV station in Jacksonville wanted Driscoll on its 11 p.m. news — live. Catching his breath wasn't an option.

His voice was hoarse the next day after trying to shout over a record crowd of 6,155 — most of them UNF students who stood throughout the game and stormed the court at the end.

“I got carried to midcourt, and I don't even know how I got there,” point guard Dallas Moore said.

Before falling asleep, Driscoll watched a replay of the game, the enormity of his team's achievement finally hitting him. After all, it was only seven years ago that North Florida was concluding its transition from Division II. The school wasn't even eligible for the tournament until Driscoll was hired in 2009.

“Could you feel the arena shaking?” he asked a reporter who had watched on TV. “It was absolutely incredible.”

After a power nap, Driscoll was out of bed by 5 a.m. Monday for his daily regimen: running the beach along the Atlantic Ocean.

“I will collapse from not getting my run in (sooner) than I will from being exhausted,” he said.

Actually, he did collapse earlier this season. It was near the end of North Florida's 77-57 victory against Liberty on Nov. 25 in Cancun, Mexico.

“It was a scary moment,” he said.

Turns out, Driscoll, 50, was suffering from dehydration. He passed a series of examinations, including a stress test, EKG and sonogram.

It taught him to remain calm.

“We have to really continue to keep things in perspective,” he said.

North Florida, which is 16-2 since Jan. 6, is Driscoll's 10th coaching stop, including Butler County Community College, Slippery Rock, Seneca Valley High School and Northgate, where he was coach of his alma mater at the age of 24.

Driscoll's roots are important to him, part of the reason he treats his players like family.

A week ago, Moore's uncle, Raymond “Coonie” Johns, died the morning of North Florida's quarterfinal victory against Stetson. Driscoll adhered to Moore's family's wishes to withhold the news from Moore until after the game.

Then, in Driscoll's office, Moore's father broke the news via speaker phone while coaches and two teammates sat nearby.

“I lost it,” said Moore, who fell into Driscoll's arms.

Sadly, Driscoll has personal experience with similar tragedies.

In 2010, he lost one of his best friends, LaRoche coach Scott Lang, the best man at his wedding, who died of a heart attack at the age of 41.

In 1986, Driscoll's brother Richard committed suicide.

“I shared with (Moore) how my dad made me play the next game (for Butler CCC),” Driscoll said.

Moore played two days after his uncle's death in the conference semifinals against Lipscomb. He scored 36 points.

Now, as Driscoll prepares for the NCAA Tournament, he is thinking of family, asking to be addressed by his given name, Matthew, even though everyone knows him as Matt.

“My mom died in 1989,” he said, “and she always called me Matthew.”

Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.

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