'Every win is special': As Kevin Borseth reaches 800 wins, a look at what's next for the legendary UWGB coach
GREEN BAY – The seasons come and go, the wins pile up and the legend of Kevin Borseth continues to grow.
The longtime University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball coach celebrated another milestone Wednesday in UWGB’s 64-56 win over Illinois-Chicago at the Kress Center, the 800th in a hall of fame career.
Borseth is one of only 20 women’s basketball coaches in Division I, Division II or the NAIA with 800 or more career wins, something he’s accomplished in 21 seasons with the Phoenix and stints at both Michigan and DII Michigan Tech.
It doesn’t even count the 75 wins he earned from 1982 to 1987 when he started his coaching career at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, Michigan, or any unofficial victories while running open gyms and coaching inmates at a minimum-security prison at the old Ojibway Correctional Facility about 25 miles from the school.
Kevin Borseth makes his mark at UWGB
Time has flown by in the blink of an eye.
That young coach turned 69 in June. It’s been a long time since those days at Gogebic, where he taught business classes and basketball for $27,400 per year.
Phoenix players were aware of his latest milestone leading up to it, just like his former players were when he was approaching 700 in 2019.
Borseth? Not so much.
“Cup of coffee in the morning, get in, get things ready for practice, get to practice, go home,” Borseth said. “Rinse and repeat the next day, for the most part. I’ve been around a long time, obviously, and every win is special.”
Borseth went 10-17 his first season at Michigan Tech in 1987-88. He started winning the next year and mostly never stopped, except for a 10-20 campaign in his second year at Michigan in 2008-09.
He responded by winning 20 or more games two times the following three seasons and leading the Wolverines to the NCAA tournament in his final year before returning to UWGB, where he was determined to end his career.
His success at Tech (225-97) and Michigan (87-73) is nothing compared to what he has done with the Phoenix.
Carol Hammerle established the program and put it squarely on the basketball map. Borseth continued the tradition when he took over in 1998.
He went 216-62 in nine seasons while leading UWGB to the Big Dance seven times and the WNIT twice.
It's no wonder Colorado pursued Borseth in 2005 — he backed out of the job mere hours before a news conference to instead stay at UWGB — and why Michigan finally landed him in 2007 with the lure of working at his dream school.
Most coaches use a mid-major like UWGB as a steppingstone to land a bigger job and never look back.
Leave it to Borseth to do the opposite.
He had enough success at Michigan to remain there, but instead he decided to return to UWGB in 2012 when the coach who replaced him, Matt Bollant, was hired at Illinois.
Green Bay made him happy. To heck with all that extra money and the opportunity for more prestige in the Big Ten.
He’s a simple guy who points out he doesn’t have many hobbies. He doesn’t build things like a carpenter. He doesn’t fix cars like a mechanic.
He coaches. He fishes. He hunts.
That’s good enough for him. It’s certainly good enough for UWGB.
He has led the Phoenix to 20 or more wins 16 times during his two decades with the program.
UWGB went 28-6 last season, which was the seventh time it had at least that many victories under Borseth and one win shy of the 29 it has enjoyed three times during his tenure.
“I’ve never been pushed in the way that he has pushed us,” junior forward Jasmine Kondrakiewicz said. “He cares so much about you that if he’s not pushing you like that, you know something is wrong. His push and his yelling, whatever it may be, knowing it’s for the best. Knowing he is trying to get you better as a person and a player.”
Still, has he mellowed in his older age? After all, he recently became Grandpa Borseth for the first time.
“I think there is a little bit of everything to him,” junior guard-forward Maddy Schreiber said. “He can be that, I don’t want to say grandpa, but that supporter for you and that chill and funny side. Then when it’s time to get down to business or you are doing something wrong, that side of him can come out, too.
“That’s what I love about him. There are both sides. It can be one day where all those sides come out in practice or in a game. I just love that about him.”
Kevin Borseth’s future at UWGB
Borseth said after his 700th win he had no plans to go for 1,000, a mark that only six women’s coaches had achieved entering the season. He still feels the same way 100 victories later.
It makes one wonder how much longer Phoenix fans will get to watch him roam the sidelines.
Borseth’s contract runs through the 2025-26 season, but he’s likely welcome to stay if he wants.
UWGB athletic director Josh Moon said “of course” when asked if he’d be open to an extension if Borseth wishes to continue in a few years.
Perhaps Borseth already knows when his last hurrah will be, whether it’s this season, the one after or if he is wrong and does stick around long enough to get 1,000.
When it does happen, it will be a well-earned farewell.
“If you think about it, you’ve already done it,” Borseth said about retirement plans. “At this point right now, I enjoy the team we have. I really enjoy what I do.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB women's basketball coach Kevin Borseth earns milestone 800th win
