Dagan Nelson was SUNY New Paltz's head coach for four seasons after working under former NYU head coach Joe Nesci as an asistant. SUNY New Paltz athletics file photo

Dagan Nelson is returning to Division III and New York University to lead the NYU program where he once served as an assistant coach. The University named him as its new head men's basketball coach, replacing Joe Nesci who retired in Mach.

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New York University announced the move in a release on Thursday afternoon.

"I am thrilled that Dagan has agreed to return to New York University as our head men's basketball coach," said University Director of Athletics Christopher Bledsoe in the school's release. "He has the perfect blend of experience as a leader, coach and recruiter to take full advantage of the unique and exciting opportunities here at NYU."

Nelson was most recently a coach with the Upward Stars Southeast AAU Program in Spartansburg, South Carolina. Despite being out of the college coaching ranks since 2011, Nelson is familiar with Division III and the New York City metropolitan area in particular.

After graduating from Ramapo in 1996, Nelson started his college coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Division II Pace in New York City. He then worked for two seasons as an assistant at NYU from 2000 through 2002 and one as an assistant at Division I Stony Brook on Long Island in 2004-05 before eventually becoming the head coach at SUNY New Paltz from 2007 through 2011. Nelson went 35-66 in four seasons with the Hawks before resigning to become the head coach at Westchester Country Day School in High Point, North Carolina.

"The tradition of excellence [at NYU] that has been established over the last century is astonishing," Nelson said in the release announcing the hire. "Having been a part of that history earlier in my career I understand what a special place NYU is."

Nelson will try to rebuild the Violets' program that has won just five games in the UAA the last two seasons, after making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team in 2016. NYU went 10-14, 3-11 in 2017-18.