Basketball at Saint Stephen’s has been on an upward trajectory in recent years. After failing to post a winning record for seven consecutive seasons, the Falcons have now done so in five of their past nine campaigns and won the first two district championships in school history (2019 and 2023).

The program enters the 2025-26 season with high hopes, ignited by the hiring of Head Coach Kevin Sutton, who brings more than 35 years of experience at the high school and collegiate levels. Sutton has served as an assistant coach at Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, George Washington, Rhode Island, and FGCU. His decorated high school career includes a 489-102 record in head coaching positions at Flint Hill Prep, Montrose Christian, Bishop McNamara, and Montverde Academy, where he won a national title in 2007. Sutton has coached more than 50 Division I recruits. He served three different stints with USA basketball, including as Team USA Head Coach at the 2011 Nike Hoop Summit. Most recently, Sutton has been Technical Director of Basketball at IMG Academy.

He takes over a program that has put together its best stretch of basketball at times during the past half dozen seasons. Following a long run of futility, the Falcons began establishing a winning culture during the 2017-18 season and eventually qualified for back-to-back post-season bids, their first since 1999. The 2017-18 campaign produced the school’s first regional playoff berth in nearly two decades and the Falcons hosted a regional game for the first time ever in 2019.

SSES was a combined 36-16 from 2017-19 and lost just one regular-season district game during that stretch (19-1). The climb reached its summit in 2018-19, when the Falcons went undefeated in district play and won the first district tournament championship in school history. Their 21-6 season created hoops excitement like never before on campus. SSES lifted its second district title trophy during a 21-8 season in 2022-23 and also won the program’s first-ever regional tournament game.