GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Former Merrimack College men's basketball standout
Darren Duncan '10 learned on Monday evening that the Warriors' All-American point guard was inducted to the Northeast-10 Conference Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018. The announcement was made during the NE10's Award Ceremony dinner, which occurred on Monday night at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y.
Duncan became the first alumnus of the men's basketball program to be enshrined in the NE10 Hall of Fame. He was one of five individuals as well as three national championship-winning programs to comprise the Class of 2018. It marked the second Hall of Fame induction in less than a year for Duncan, who was included in the Merrimack Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2017.
"What an honor this is for Darren and our basketball program for him to be inducted into the NE10 Hall of Fame. With so much talent that has been in our league over the years, he is just the 11th basketball player ever to be inducted. Players like Darren do not come around very often. He was a great teammate who made everyone around him better while also managing to score 2,000 points. He also led his teams to three straight NCAA appearances. To this day he is still a great ambassador of both Merrimack and NE10 basketball," stated current men's basketball head coach
Joe Gallo, who served as an assistant coach for the program during Duncan's playing career.
Merrimack's career assists leader, Duncan is the seventh student-athlete in Merrimack history to land in the NE10 Hall of Fame joining softball's Kim (Page) Ducharme (2006), women's soccer's Sue Plante (2007), softball's Raffaella Paparo (2011), men's soccer's Steve McAuliffe (2012), men's lacrosse's Greg Rogowski (2014), and women's basketball's Joelle Martin (2016). The 1994 Merrimack softball program is also in the league's Hall of Fame honoring its national title.
The Briarwood, N.Y. native concluded a remarkable career in 2010 that saw the two-time All-American set program records for assists (825), free throws made (715) and free throws attempted (925). Duncan helped lead Merrimack to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and was named a Bob Cousy award finalist as the nation's top point guard as a senior. Statistically, Duncan owns the eight-most assists in NCAA Division II history and ranks 16th all-time with 7.1 assists per game in his career.
In NE10 lore, Duncan led the conference in total assists in all four of his seasons on campus, and has maintained his NE10 record for free throws made. Duncan was a three-time NE10 All-Conference First Team selection and won the NE10's Rookie of the Year award following the 2006-07 campaign. His 825 helpers ranks second in league annals, while he is tied for sixth with 267 career steals. Duncan finished his career with 2,049 points, ranking fourth all-time at Merrimack and 11
th in NE10 history.
Following the conclusion of his collegiate tenure, Duncan began his professional career in Austria, spent time in the top professional league in Greece and since then has spent the majority of the last six seasons playing in Canada. Most recently, Duncan played for the Kitchener Waterloo Titans in 2017-18, and averaged 9.7 points and 6.1 assists per game over 31 contests.
