WATERVILLE — Over the last 10 years, Sean Rutigliano has overseen some high-level college basketball in Nashville, Tennessee.

Now, the former assistant coach at two strong mid-major programs has a head-coaching gig of his own — and he’s trading the Music City for the Elm City.

Colby College announced Friday the hiring of Rutigliano as the school’s men’s basketball head coach. A native of Suffern, New York, he replaces Damien Strahorn, who was dismissed in May after 14 years at the helm.

“I knew right away (when I interviewed at Colby) that this was a special place,” Rutigliano said. “There’s a lot of alignment between Colby and the other places I’ve been in terms of the people there and in terms of the student-athletes. You look at that and look at the Colby brand, and it’s something that excited me.”

Rutigliano spent the last six years at Division I Belmont University in Nashville, helping the Bruins to a 140-54 record. He was an assistant from 2015-19 at Lipscomb University, also in Nashville, where he was part of a 2017-18 team that earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth.

Prior to those jobs, Rutigliano was an assistant at Army, as well as at Alabama-Huntsville and Ouachita Baptist (Arkansas) at the Division II level and Kean University (New Jersey) in Division III. Although he was head coach of the junior varsity teams at Army and Ouachita Baptist, this is his first time leading a program.

“I just thought this was the right time and the right opportunity,” Rutigliano said. “It’s a chance for me to run my own program and a chance for me to have a large effect on young people, and it just seemed like an unbelievable time in my life for me and for my family.”

At both Belmont and Lipscomb, Rutigliano was an assistant under head coach Casey Alexander. In a prepared statement provided by Colby, Alexander, who named Rutigliano his associate head coach in 2023, called him “the total package” as well as “a gifted teacher, expressive communicator, and genuine relationship-builder.”

“Sean has been a difference-maker in our program and throughout our athletic department,” Alexander said in a separate prepared statement provided by Belmont. “We are grateful for his contributions to Belmont and look forward to following his career as a head coach.”

Rutigliano is just the third coach in 55 years at Colby. Prior to Strahorn’s 14 years on Mayflower Hill, Dick Whitmore coached the Mules for 41 seasons, amassing a 637-341 record and leading the Mules to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four years after the NESCAC first allowed its teams to compete in 1994.

Rutigliano is the second coach hired by Colby Athletic Director Amanda DeMartino, who previously tapped Sean Elvert to lead the men’s soccer program in May. Although DeMartino said Colby got more than 100 applicants for the position, Rutigliano had credentials that were a cut above the rest.

“Sean really stood out to us and aligned with where we want to go,” said DeMartino, who replaced Michael Wisecup as athletic director in October. “Obviously he’s had a tremendous career already, so we’re really excited. … It’s something that I think is a perfect fit for Colby and the Waterville community.”

Rutigliano, who hopes to settle in Waterville by mid-August with his wife, Bridget, and 6-year-old son, Kaleb, has some ties to Maine, with some of his family hailing from the Berwick area. An avid fisherman, he is sure to feel right at home at the doorsteps of the breathtaking Belgrade Lakes region.

Rutigliano plans on staying at Colby for the long term.

“I didn’t look at this job as an opportunity to get somewhere else,” Rutigliano said. “My family, we want to get involved in the Waterville community and be a part of that. I think everything just aligned here, and I can’t wait to get started.”