The Dartmouth High boys’ basketball team has a new head coach, but he’s no stranger to the Indians’ locker room.

In fact, Nick Simonetti is something of a hometown hero, having scored over 1,000 points for the team during his four-year varsity career and being named among the top 20 Dartmouth High basketball players of the last 50 years by the New Bedford Standard-Times.

Simonetti was officially tapped to be the coach on Oct. 7, the school’s athletics department announced.

“It’s truly an honor to return and coach in my hometown, I am so thankful to Dartmouth High School for the opportunity,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have played and coached alongside the previous three head coaches (Steve Gaspar, Jeff Caron, and Mike Grandfield), being named only the third coach in the last 37 years of Dartmouth High School boys’ basketball is a dream come true.”

Simonetti graduated from Dartmouth High in 2014 and returned to the team in 2017 where he has served as a varsity assistant coach and the head coach of the junior varsity team in recent years.

He is also a special education teacher at Dartmouth Middle School.

Dartmouth High Athletic Director Andew Crisafuli said he was thrilled to have Simonetti leading the team.

“Nick Simonetti is an outstanding young coach who really connects with his student-athletes,” he said. “Simonetti was a standout basketball student-athlete here at Dartmouth High School, has a vested interest in the success of the program, while also possessing the unique ability to see the game through his players’ eyes.”

Now that he has been tapped to lead the team, Simonetti said he can’t wait to start the season.

“We have a great group of returning student-athletes, so I’m very excited for the season to start,” he said. “Being able to learn under our previous coaches has allowed me to take certain pieces of the game from each of them, while also having the ability to mix in my own style.”

The Dartmouth High boys’ basketball team is currently scheduled to start its season on Dec. 10 against Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School.