John Giraldo, a former assistant at reigning NJSIAA Tournament of Champions winner Roselle Catholic and a former star guard at Monmouth University, was approved as Matawan's new head boys basketball coach by the Matawan Board of Education on Monday night.

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Giraldo, who starred at Marist High School in Bayonne, was one of the standouts on the first Monmouth team to ever reach the NCAA Tournament in 1996. He was inducted into the Monmouth University Hall of Fame in 2010 after finishing up a professional career overseas in South America and Europe that lasted 10 years.

This is the first head coaching job for Giraldo, who has been an assistant under Dave Boff at the powerhouse Roselle Catholic program that finished No. 1 in the state this past winter. He takes over for Tom Stead, who stepped down in April after eight seasons with the Huskies in which he led them to their best stretch in 50 years.

This past season, Stead led the Huskies to a 15-12 season and a trip to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II semifinals. In 2014, he was the Shore Sports Network Coach of the Year after leading Matawan to its first NJSIAA sectional title since 1957 in winning Central Jersey Group II. He also led the Huskies to a 24-5 season, their first division title since 1965 and their first trip to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals since that same season.

Matawan will have to replace the tandem of star senior guards Joe Piscopo, who is headed to Centenary College, and Division I guard Jason Dunne, a Hartford recruit.

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