Veteran coach Karl DeMasi has been tabbed to take over the Effingham County High School girls basketball program.

The Effingham County Board of Education approved his hire at their meeting Wednesday afternoon. He was one of nine applicants for the position and he is expected to meet next week with the team and the rising middle schoolers interested in playing next year.

“We’re excited, and we’ll think he’ll do a good job,” ECHS Principal Yancy Ford said. “We’re looking forward to working with him.”

DeMasi is currently a health and PE teacher at DeRenne Middle School in Savannah and spent five years as health and PE department chairman at Groves High School in Garden City.

He was the head football coach and head girls basketball coach at Groves. As football coach, he led the Rebels to the Class AAAAA state playoffs four times in five years and compiled a record of 33-21.

In one year as head girls basketball coach, he led the Lady Rebels to a 13-12 mark.

DeMasi stepped down as a coach at Groves in 2007, citing a desire to spend more time with his family after 25 years of coaching.

He has been coaching the St. Andrew’s School eighth grade and JV boys basketball teams the last two seasons.

DeMasi, a native of East Rockaway, N.Y., first came to the Coastal Empire in 1995 to be head girls basketball coach at Jenkins High School. He led the Lady Warriors for three seasons, going 43-28. He also spent a season coaching the varsity girls at Johnson.

He led the St. Andrew’s boys varsity for two years, posting a record of 32-18. The Saints went to the SCISA state semifinals his first year.

His coaching career began in 1982 at East Rockaway High School. DeMasi coached the JV girls for five years, and he eventually spent five seasons as head varsity girls coach. He twice led the Lady Rocks to the New York state quarterfinals and they were two-time Long Island Class C champions.

DeMasi also was head coach at Nassau Community College for a season, leading its women’s team to a 12-5 mark and a semifinal appearance in the NJCAA Region 8 tournament.

DeMasi holds a master’s in health education and a bachelor’s in physical education from Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.

He and his wife Dee have three children, Russell, Michelle and Dominic.