Head Coach Darrel Parker
Darrel Parker enters his sixth season as Head Coach at NJC. Last year the Plainswomen finished with the best record in Region IX at 27-3 and were co South Sub Region champions. The Plainswomen were again nationally ranked and have accumulated 134-25 record in Coach Parker’s first five years at the helm. In his first season, Parker was named the Region IX and the South Sub Region Coach of the Year after he led the Plainswomen to a 25-7 record. In his second season the team finished with an identical 25-7 record and another South Sub Region Title. The team was also ranked in the top 10 in the nation early in the year and finished nationally in the top 25. In Coach Parker’s third year he guided the Plainswomen to an amazing 30-2 record and an 8th place national ranking. The 30 win season was NJC’s best and ended in a narrow defeat in the Region IX championship game to Sheridan CC. He garnered his second Region IX Coach of the Year honor. In his fourth year at the helm the Plainswomen won the South Sub region for the fourth year in a row and finished with an outstanding 27-6 record and another national ranking.
Parker coached the Sterling High School Lady Tigers for 27 years prior to joining NJC. He resigned as coach of the Lady Tigers in June of 2005 after leading Sterling to its first Class 4A state title in March of that year. From 1979-2005, Parker posted a career mark of 465-132, the most wins by a girl’s basketball coach in Colorado history. He had only one losing season, that coming in 1981 when the Lady Tigers were 9-11. Under Coach Parker’s guidance Sterling High won 20 or more games in ten different seasons as well as capturing 12 conference championships in the tough Northern Conference. Parker's teams won 15 district titles and he coached 20 state qualifying teams. Sterling has been to the Final Four of the state basketball tournament 11 times under the direction of Parker, and the Lady Tigers were state runners-up three times before Sterling won the title in 2005 with an outstanding 27-1 record.
He has also garnered numerous High School Conference and State Coach of the Year honors, and was named the United States Regional Coach of the Year for the 2005 season by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for Girls basketball.
Coach Parker grew up in Cozad, Nebraska and now lives in Sterling with his wife, Jonelle. The Parker family includes two daughters and one son, all who attended NJC
Assistant Coach David Huss
Coach Huss is in his sixth season as an Assistant Women's Coach and Assistant Manager at Northeastern Junior College. He has helped lead the Plainswomen to a 134-25 record and five consecutive South-Sub Region Titles. Coach Huss is the primary recruiter and has brought great talent to NJC from his assistant position. He is a tireless worker and has established many contacts with four year schools and works very hard to get NJC athletes to the next level. He has helped NJC players get to Division 1 schools Weber State, Utah State, Northern Colorado, and many Division ll and NAIA schools as an assistant coach.
Before coming to NJC Coach Huss was an Assistant Women's Basketball coach at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, ND. He helped lead the Wildcats to a respectable 21-10 record.
From 2003-2005, Coach Huss had been the Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa while working on his Master's Degree at the University of Northern Iowa. Marshalltown Community College is a member of one of the toughest regions in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Region XI includes Southeastern Community College in West Burlington and Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, schools that have won the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship six of the past ten years. At Marshalltown during his second year, Coach Huss helped coach their team to a 25-9 record and the farthest a Marshalltown Community College Basketball Program had been in years. The Tigers also received votes in the national poll during the 2004-2005 seasons. In addition, all 10 sophomores from that season left Marshalltown with degrees and went on to NCAA Division I schools, including Iowa State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Utah State University, Binghamton University in New York, and Butler University.
Coach Huss taught K-6 Physical Education at Pike Valley Elementary/Junior High in Courtland, Kansas from 2000-2003. He coached Junior High football, Junior High Track, and was the Head High School Girl's Basketball coach. During his three years as the head basketball coach, he compiled a 45-20 record in which he set records for most wins in a season (17), and most wins by a coach at Pike Valley (45). He also led his team to the first winning season in 9 years by going 14-7 in his first year. He also coached his teams to several Linn Tournaments Championships and led his team to their first Pike Trail League Championship game in 10 years.
Assistant Coach Dave Huss graduated in 1994 from Coleridge High School in Coleridge, Nebraska. He attended Northeast Community College and transferred to Wayne State College, where he graduated and received a bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education. Dave graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in August of 2005 with his Master's Degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Teaching and Coaching.