Green Bay women’s basketball coach Kevin Borseth reaches monumental milestone

As the Green Bay women’s basketball team defeated Wright State in late January, Phoenix Coach Kevin Borseth was embarking on his own monumental milestone—his 500th Division I career win as a head coach.

In his career, Borseth has won 413 of his 500 Division I wins in two separate stints as head coach of the women’s basketball team at UW-Green Bay, and now has 725 wins overall across all NCAA divisions. Currently, Borseth ranks 19th on the all-time NCAA Division I women’s basketball head coaches list for total wins and is 10th among active coaches.

In his two stints as the Green Bay women’s basketball head coach, Borseth has led the program to 14 regular season conference championships, including 12 trips to the NCAA Tournament.

As Borseth and his program head into the final stretch before a hopeful play-off run, those who know him well, share what they believe is the reason for his success, and staying power:

Amanda Perry, who left Borseth’s coaching staff last summer to become the head coach for St. Norbert’s women’s basketball team, and played for Borseth from 1999-2002, believes he cultivates a family relationship with his players that helps him achieve a high degree of success. “It’s not a job or a business for him. His players are his family and he cares about and treats them as such,” said Perry.

Perry also added that Borseth focuses on developing a player-led team so the program can have as many strong, positive leaders as possible, a vital component to sustained excellence. This is something that Perry has taken with her to St. Norbert.

“We are trying to develop a culture here of a player led team, accountability and the drive to be the best. We want out players to know that we care about them as family, that we care about them becoming the next generation of female leaders, and that they grow into role models for younger female athletes,” said Perry.

Frankie Wurtz, a redshirt senior for the Green Bay women’s basketball team, believes that Borseth’s personable nature allows him to connect with his players and allow them to succeed just as much as his ability to coach.

“He is very genuine, real and truly cares about every one of his players and everyone loves to play for him because of that,” Wurtz said.

Wurtz also cited Borseth’s preparation and attention to detail as keys to his on court success as a head basketball coach.

“Coach Borseth and our assistant coaches watch a lot of film and put in a lot of time to get us prepared for the next game, and we practice with that same attention to detail. That is something that has allowed me to really grow as a player and is something that I will carry over if I become a coach one day,” said Wurtz.

Despite being battered by injuries this season—the Phoenix even had to finish a road game with four players—the team is battling for one of the top seeds heading into the Horizon League Tournament set to tip-off on Tuesday, March 3, with the Championship Game in Indianapolis on Tuesday, March 10.

Wurtz and company hope to add yet another championship banner to the Kress Center rafters. And Borseth can keep adding to the 500-plus win column.

Feature by UW-Green Bay Marketing and University Communication intern Joshua Konecke. Photos submitted from Green Bay athletics.