NBLC Alumni: Darren Duncan

5'11

Guard

From Brooklyn, New York

Tenure: 2011-2014, 2016-2017

2014 NBLC Champion

2x All-NBLC

For many years he was one of the leading lights on the Windsor Express and helped facilitate their biggest successes in the NBL Canada. This has seen him go down as one of the most notable players in the team's history.

In his early days, he graduated from Christ The King high school in New York to the Merrimack Warriors, an NCAA Division 1 team in North Andover, Massachusetts. There he was named the Northeast 10 Rookie of the Year and made the All-Conference first team as a sophomore. As a junior he was made team captain, lead the Northeast 10 in scoring and was a finalist for 2009 Bob Cousy award. He finished his tenure as the fourth Warrior to score two thousand points during his tenure.

His professional career began in Austria and the Czech and Slovak republics, before he moved back to North America, becoming part of the inaugural NBLC season. With the Saint John Mill Rats, Duncan made his debut on January 5th 2012, scoring 13 points and giving out 12 assists against the Quebec Kebs.

He had four more double-doubles in the season, continuing his high-energy offence that helped the Mill Rats to the playoffs. However they were whitewashed in round one by the London Lightning en route to their first championship.

Duncan started the 2012-13 season with the Halifax Rainmen but left after eight games for the Windsor Express. It was with Windsor he had his highest-scoring game of the season, 31 points against the Montreal Jazz on December 15th, and later a mega double-double against his old team, with 22 points and 20 total rebounds over Saint John.

It was one of ten regular season double-doubles seen from Duncan in 2012-13. He recorded triple-doubles in two of Windsor's 2013 playoff games against the Summerside Storm, but even with sensational numbers from Duncan, the Express came up short in the series and lost out, three games to two. Still, Duncan did more than enough in the season to earn a spot on the All-NBLC First Team

Re-signing with Windsor the following season, Duncan continued his powerhouse offence. He finished in double digits in all but nine games, recorded twenty double-doubles and, at the season's end, averaged 8.8 assists per game, the highest in the 2013-14 NBLC season. The Express had the best regular season record and finished as the number one seed in the central division.

With Duncan still in tow, they swept Mississauga in the first round of the play-offs before winning over London in seven games to set a face-off with the Storm in the finals. In the last game of the series Duncan posted 13 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Winning the game, Windsor captured both the series and their first NBL Canada championship.

The next two seasons saw Duncan leave Canada first for Finland, where he achieved 29-7 season record with Kataja, and later Apollon Partas in Greece. In 2016 he rejoined the Windsor Express. He recorded his best performance of the season on February 25th 2017, with 20 points and 10 assists in a one-point win over the Niagara River Lions.

In the post-season, he scored 29 points against the KW Titans in game two of the Central Division semi-finals, which Windsor would sweep before being swept themselves by London in the next round. Duncan moved on the following season to play with the KW Titans, for whom he registered five double-doubles and a season-high 26 points on March 23rd 2008 in a one-point loss to his old team.

With the Titans falling short of the playoffs, this spelled the apparent end of Darren Duncan's basketball journey - a long and fruitful portion of which was spent in Canada and in particular Windsor. His tireless work ethic and consistent high numbers has earned him a place among the elite players ever to suit up for the Express.

Picture Credit: Dax Melmer