WARREN, Mich. – For the first time since 1994, a new varsity coach will lead De La Salle Collegiate onto the basketball court.

Gjon Djokaj, the head coach at Walled Lake Northern the past three seasons, was named the Pilots’ new coach on Tuesday, interim athletic director Dennis Parks announced. 

Djokaj becomes the 18th varsity basketball coach in school history. He succeeds hall-of-fame coach Greg Esler, who retired from coaching in June after 26 seasons.

Djokaj, 39, is a veteran coach with more than a decade of sideline experience that includes varsity jobs at Walled Lake Northern (2017-20) and Livonia Franklin (2016-17). He also had junior varsity and assistant varsity stops at Walled Lake Northern, Troy Athens, Bloomfield Hills Lahser, and Birmingham Seaholm.

Djokaj served as a men’s basketball video coordinator for head coach Jay Smith at Central Michigan University, where he earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in sports administration.

"We are excited to bring coach Gjon Djokaj into Lasallian family," Parks said. "He brings a wealth of basketball experience, knowledge, and success to De La Salle Collegiate."

In the past four seasons, Djokaj’s varsity teams compiled a 56-33 overall record while going 28-22 in league contests. In 2019, Northern captured the Lake Valley Conference’s league and league tournament championships en route to posting a 20-3 overall mark.

“De La Salle Collegiate’s mission is abundantly clear and establishes a commonality between the school and my coaching philosophy,” said Djokaj, who played high school basketball at North Farmington. “Part of my success in coaching is derived from the high level of importance I place on mentoring and challenging student-athletes to strive to be the best on the court, in the classroom, and in their daily lives. Along with teaching values, which I deem essential to becoming a successful team, my experiences in coaching have made me more than capable of building and maintaining all facets of a championship-caliber basketball program.”

Djokaj now lives in Farmington Hills with his wife, Leze, and their three sons, Andrew 5, Gabriel 2, and Philip 1.