Atlantic promotes assistant Dario Hernandez to head girls' basketball coach

Atlantic High named Dario Hernandez its girls' basketball coach on Monday afternoon, Athletic Director Tron Griffin said.

Hernandez, 36, spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant on George Butts' staff. Butts, who announced his intentions to step down in October, guided Atlantic to 515 wins, four district championships and three Final Four appearances over a quarter-century in charge.

Calvary Christian hired Butts to fill its coaching vacancy on Saturday.

"The slogan here is that it's a school of opportunity," Hernandez said. "I'm happy to land in such a great spot. I learned a great deal from Coach Butts, and we fed off each other. I was honored to be in the presence of greatness. Those are some big shoes to fill."

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This will be Hernandez's first experience as a high school head coach, but he served as an assistant on six NCAA women's basketball staffs in the previous decade, including four at the Division I level — Saint Francis (Pa.), Providence, Wagner and Stony Brook. His résumé includes stints at two Division II programs, Adelphi (N.Y.) and Columbus State (Ga.).

Prior to entering the college ranks, Hernandez worked as a coach, administrative assistant and academic coordinator for Big Apple Basketball, a nonprofit organization in his hometown of Queens, New York. He handled administrative duties and statistics for all summer league games, assisted with individual workouts and recruiting, managed players' strength and conditioning workouts in the offseason and monitored academic grade reports.

Atlantic posted a 10-7 record this past season, reaching the first round of the regional playoffs in Class 4A. All-Area Honoree Kiki Bean and honorable mention Tristen O'Berry are among the Sharks' top expected returners for Hernandez's first year at the helm.

"There is speed, speed, speed all over this team," Hernandez said. "Even though we didn't get the results in wins and losses we wanted at the end, there was plenty of growth continually through the season."