Skip To Main Content

Middlesex School Athletics

OFFICIAL ATHLETICS WEBSITE OF MIDDLESEX SCHOOL
Ted Cottrell Headshot 2026-27

Ted Cottrell

Ted Cottrell, a well-respected skills trainer and youth advocate, enters his first season as the girls varsity basketball coach in 2026-27.

He arrives at Middlesex with an extensive coaching resume and community engagement background. He has experience coaching at the collegiate, high school, and youth levels, experiences that led him to launch Universal Basketball Training, one of the region’s best known skills and drills development programs.

"What's most impressive about Coach Cottrell is his student-centered approach, his desire to impact every player in a meaningful way and his humility,” said Najarian. “His commitment to teaching, his measured approach, his depth of knowledge and his obvious pedigree certainly stood out, but what was most refreshing was his desire to simply help kids at any level learn and grow within the game that he loves."

A former Division I student-athlete at the University of Massachusetts, Cottrell played under legendary coach John Calipari. During his time with the Minutemen, Cottrell and his teammates won five Atlantic-10 conference titles, reached No. 1 in the country and advanced to the 1996 Final Four before falling to eventual national champion Kentucky.

Following his collegiate career and brief professional playing stint, Cottrell dove head first into coaching, working at Emerson College, Mount Holyoke College and grassroots organizations like the famed Five Star Basketball Camp in Yonkers, N.Y. He has also coached at Palmer High, Danvers High and Austin Prep in Reading.

Along the way, Cottrell continued to focus on player development serving as Master Basketball Trainer at the Visionary Basketball Group and as the Director of Player Development at Eastern Basketball 120 Swish before branching out on his own and creating UBT.

In addition to his basketball experience, Cottrell’s youth advocacy has allowed him to create a coaching environment that focuses not only on player development but personal growth.

He spent nearly two decades working with at-risk youth at places like the Home for Little Wanderers and the New England Center for Change. He spent time as a specialty teacher at the Smith Leadership Academy and then worked closely with autistic students as a special education teacher at the May Institute.