Michael DiMarino has been appointed as the head coach of the Winthrop High School boys basketball team.
The 33-year-old Winthrop resident succeeds David Brown, who stepped down as the leader of the highly successful Viking program following the 2011-12 season.
DiMarino was selected from a field of eleven candidates for the position. The selection committee consisted of athletic director Peter Gobiel, School Committee member Melissa Polino, Attorney Chris Tsiotos, Phil Lundberg, and Quinton Dale Sr.
The committee interviewed five semifinalists and then recommended two finalists to Superintendent of Schools John Macero and Principal Gail Conlon who interviewed the two candidates and made the decision to choose DiMarino.
“I think the process worked well and we have a great candidate in Michael DiMarino,†said Gobiel. “He’s young but experienced and he has a ton of energy that I think the players are going to feed off of.â€
DiMarino is well known and highly respected in the high school basketball community. He played basketball at Savio Prep and at the semi-professional level in northern England.
A graduate of Savio Prep and Bridgewater State College, he was an assistant coach at Savio Prep on the staff of Frank Shea. In 2007 the Spartans advanced to the state final at the Boston Garden, losing the title game to Cathedral by three points.
He rejoined Shea at Masconomet Regional and has been assistant coach for the past four seasons. Masconomet has qualified for the State Tournament all four years and become one of the premier teams in the Cape Ann League.
The 6-foot-2-inch DiMarino played basketball for the Holy Rosary CYO team and baseball in the Winthrop Senior League.
DiMarino said he is excited to be coaching the WHS boys hoop team.
“When I saw that the Winthrop job was open, it was immediately a dream job for me,†said DiMarino. “I’m a lifelong Winthrop resident. I have a lot of respect for the program. I know they’ve won a couple of state titles and it’s a great tradition. I love having the opportunity to continue the success at Winthrop and help to continue to build the program.
“I’m excited. I know Dave Brown had a very nice program in Winthrop and I’m excited to build on it and hopefully take it to another level.â€
DiMarino said that Andrew Turchon will be the assistant varsity coach. Dan Mahoney will return as the freshman coach. A new junior varsity coach will be named soon.
DiMarino is a teacher at Rumney Marsh Academy in Revere. He was named the 2012 Massachusetts history teacher of the year and was a national finalist for the History Channel’s teacher of the year award.
Gobiel was pleased with the high number of candidates for the position.
“We’ve had a successful program for the past several years,†said Gobiel. “Dave did a phenomenal job getting the kids out there and doing well and it gets noticed by other schools and coaches. It’s been one of the better teams in the conference and the division,â€
Winthrop won the state championship in 2011.
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