New Mexico Highlands University is excited to announce that Zach Settembre has been named the next head men's basketball coach. Settembre comes to Las Vegas from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX, where he was an assistant coach from 2022-2023 and 2024-2025.
Settembre comes to NMHU with seven years of college coaching experience, including two years as the head coach at Tallahassee Community College from 2019-2021. He also has served as an assistant at Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, and twice at Tarleton State.
"It's a tremendous honor to be named the head basketball coach at New Mexico Highlands University," Settembre said. "From my first conversation with university leadership, specifically President Dr. Neil Woolf and Vice President of Advancement Paul Grindstaff, it was clear that the commitment to Cowboys Basketball aligned perfectly with my vision for what we can and will become. We will be relentless in our pursuit of excellence both in the classroom and on the hardwood. We will stop at nothing to ensure that our young men feel supported during their time with us in Las Vegas, but more importantly, we will go to great lengths to show our commitment to developing proud graduates who depart our campus ready to succeed in life."
Prior to his time in Las Vegas, Settembre joined the Tarleton State staff and legendary coach Billy Gillispie for the second time in 2024-2025, helping the Texans to 10 home victories and mentoring WAC Freshman of the Year Keitenn Bristow.
Prior to his second stint at Tarleton State, he joined New Mexico State as an assistant coach and was a key member of Jason Hooten’s first Aggie staff. In his one season on the Aggies bench, Settembre helped New Mexico State to a 12-3 record at home while playing a major role in recruiting an entirely new roster. Settembre helped the defense become one of the toughest in Conference USA. NMSU ranked second in league in fewest turnovers averaging 11.9 per game and held opponents 42.1 percent shooting from the field, the third lowest in the conference.
In Settembre’s first season at Tarleton State in 2022-2023, he helped guide the squad to the most wins in their Division I era at the time, posting a 17-17 record. That season, Tarleton posted a 12-2 home record and earned their first bid to the WAC Tournament where they knocked off UTRGV 74-70. The squad earned its first non-WAC Tournament postseason berth in their D1 era, earning an invitation to the prestigious CBI.
The Texan defense led the WAC in both steals per game and turnover margin. Settembre helped guide Shamir Bogues and Jakorie Smith to lead the defense and rank first and third in the league in steals. Freddy Hicks was tabbed Preseason All-WAC and earned Second Team All-WAC at the end of the year. Bogues was named to the WAC’s All-Defensive Team.
Prior to joining Tarleton State, the Louisville, Kentucky, native was instrumental in engineering one of the most successful seasons in Coastal Carolina men’s basketball history during his year in Myrtle Beach in 2021-2022. The Chanticleers posted a 19-14 overall record and won three postseason games to advance to the finals of The Basketball Classic. Settembre also coached Vince Cole to All-Sun Belt Conference second team accolades. The senior guard led the Chanticleers in scoring and ranked fifth in the Sun Belt at 15.4 points per game while connecting at a 41.2 percent clip from downtown, which ranked 27th among all DI players.
Before arriving in Division I in 2021 at Coastal Carolina, Settembre led Tallahassee Community College (now Tallahassee State College) to unprecedented success during his two-year run as head coach. He led the Eagles to back-to-back Panhandle Conference Championships and a 46-9 overall record while at the helm. Settembre was named the Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year in both seasons.
The 2019-20 season was historic for TCC and highlighted Settembre’s knack for developing Division I talent. A school-record ten players went on to sign National Letters of Intent with D1 schools and all 15 players on the roster accepted scholarships with four-year programs. Settembre also facilitated a clean sweep of Panhandle Conference postseason awards. He coached El Ellis to both conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades. Ellis, who went on to sign with Louisville, became just the fourth freshman since 1997 to receive Panhandle Conference Player of the Year recognition. Settembre also coached Tariq Silver (Oregon State) to conference Newcomer of the Year honors. In total, seven Eagles were named to the all-conference first and second teams.
The Eagles finished with a 27-6 overall record and 9-3 mark in conference play en route to the outright Panhandle Conference Championship – their first since 2001. The team’s march toward the conference crown was foreshadowed by a 16-2 record in non-conference action that featured victories over traditional Texas junior college powers Odessa College and Trinity Valley CC. Tallahassee CC then advanced to the championship game in the NJCAA Region VIII/FCSAA State Tournament and secured an at-large bid to the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in school history.
Settembre’s squad was one of the most efficient offensive teams in the D1 junior college ranks. The Eagles shot 40.2 percent from deep to the tune of 362 made 3-point field goals, setting school records in both categories.
He joined current DI head coaches Chris Jans (Mississippi State) and Steve Forbes (Wake Forest) and two time NJCAA National Champion Greg Heiar (Trinity Valley Community College) as one of four coaches to claim Panhandle Conference Coach of the Year honors in their first season as head coach.
Settembre’s leadership was on full display during the COVID-19-condensed 2020-21 campaign. The Eagles did not miss a beat in Settembre’s final year in Tallahassee, as they posted a 19-3 overall record and 13-3 conference record to earn a share of the Panhandle Conference Championship. The consecutive conference championships were the first in program history since 1996 and 1997. The 13 conference victories signified a school record.
He again mentored Ellis to conference Player of the Year accolades and coached both Ellis and former Prairie View A&M forward Jeremiah Kendall to conference Newcomer of the Year honors. Both Ellis and Kendall were named to the FCSAA All-State men’s basketball team, marking the first time TCC had two members named to the all-state team in more than a decade.
Settembre’s climb up the DI ranks was in part facilitated by one of the sport’s legends. He is a 2012 graduate of Syracuse and served as a student manager under Jim Boeheim.
Following his college graduation, Settembre returned home to Kentucky and worked as a freshman head boys basketball coach at Iroquois High School (2012-13) and Ballard High School (2013-14).
He then pivoted to the college game, as he joined legendary coach Happy Osborne’s staff at Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Following his stint at Kentucky Wesleyan, Settembre operated a private financial planning practice with Northwestern Mutual for three years in Louisville, Ky. While in the private sector, Settembre spent two more seasons as a high school assistant - one at Ballard and one at Louisville Collegiate School - before the latter named him the varsity boys head coach in March 2017, and he delivered a record-breaking season.
Collegiate won a school record 23 games in 2017-18, made its second-ever trip to the All "A" state tournament, and Settembre was named both the KABC (Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches) and Courier-Journal Seventh Region Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. Settembre also fostered the development of Collegiate’s first-ever Courier-Journal 1st Team All 7th Region student-athlete, Chesimon Moore.
Settembre is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, where he graduated from St. Xavier High School in 2009.
What they’re saying about Coach Settembre:
“Zach is an energetic coach with a strong work ethic and a real hunger for recruiting. His teams at Tallahassee Community College were always well prepared and played extremely hard. His players had great success both at the junior college level and at the four-year level. He and his staff’s commitment to excellence will rapidly elevate the New Mexico Highlands men’s basketball program, and he will be a great ambassador for the university and for the RMAC.”
-Will Wade, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, North Carolina State University
“New Mexico Highlands hit a home run with the hiring of Zach Settembre. Coach Settembre will be relentless in his effort to make New Mexico Highlands a winning program.”
-Chris Jans, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Mississippi State University
“Zach Settembre is a great hire for New Mexico Highlands. He will lead the program to unprecedented heights in no time at all. I’ve been fortunate to have had many assistant coaches become head coaches and Zach can be as good as any one of them. He has knowledge, work ethic, the ability to recruit, and unmatched determination. The sky is the limit for him as a leader of a program. The Cowboys are in great hands with Zach leading the program.”
-Billy Gillispie, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Tarleton State University
“Zach is a tireless worker who has a tremendous passion for the game of basketball and helping student-athletes.”
-Jason Hooten, Head Men’s Basketball Coach, New Mexico State University
