Darren Stratton wins the 2026 NJCAA DIII Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
Charlotte, NC - 23 years on, the Northern Essex head coach struck gold. Coach Darren Stratton is the 2026 NJCAA DIII Men's Basketball Coach of the Year.
Stratton won the first ever National Championship in Northern Essex history and has etched himself as not only a legend of Haverhill, MA, but also the exact person you want to run a program. In his 23rd season as head coach for the Knights, Stratton led the Knights to a historic season finishing with 33 wins and only 3 losses. His team entered the National Championship as the #1 seed and never looked back, defeating the #10 seed Dallas College - Richland 68-62 in the title game.
Stratton returned for the 2020-21 season for his second stint as head coach of the Northern Essex Community College men's basketball team. Previously Stratton served as the programs head coach from 1999 through 2015.
Stratton will return for his 24th season in 2026-27. A five-time Region 21 Coach of the Year, he became the first coach to lead his program to three consecutive Region 21 and Northeast District Championships at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, a feat that hadn't been accomplished in the Region in 37 years.
He captured his 300th career win leading the Knights program on November 30th, 2023 as the Knights defeated CCRI by an 88-71 final on the road.
During his first stint with the program, he was a 200 game winner. A 1996 graduate of Northern Essex, Stratton played under the late Mike Rowinski from 1994 through 1996 and immediatly joined the coaching staff after graduation. The program saw tremendous success under Stratton in his first tenure, advancing to two Region 21 Championship games in 2003 and 2009 and also claiming two MCCAC State Championships along the way.
Stratton will be celebrated long into the future of Northern Essex, and now brings a championship winning mentality for the years to come.
