Kevin Borseth announces retirement
By Tori Wittenbrock
Associate Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – UW-Green Bay Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kevin Borseth has announced his retirement at the conclusion of the team’s 2023-24 season.
During his final season, Borseth amassed his 800th career win, as well as 500 wins as the head coach of the Phoenix and 13 NCAA Tournament appearances.
“I spent 42 years of my life doing this and it’s not easy. It’s something I really love to do. If I had to do anything else, I don’t think I would have half the success I had on the basketball floor. To get up tomorrow morning and think that I am no longer the head coach — it’s going to hurt,” said Borseth.
“It goes back to when I was younger and all I ever wanted was keys to the gym. We were crawling under fences and breaking in through windows and getting kicked out and all I ever wanted was keys to the gym. I finally got my keys to the gym so I just hope that these guys don’t take my keys away.”
UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander said that Borseth’s contributions to the Phoenix community are invaluable and that he is a living legend whose impact will last within the university for years to come.
“If you look in our gym and you look at all of those banners, those don’t happen by accident. That is sustained excellence,” said Alexander.
“He’s an incredibly easy guy to root for. He works incredibly hard and he shows us at UW-Green Bay what is possible.”
Amid Borseth’s retirement announcement Alexander said that the school has another important announcement to make regarding the women’s basketball program and Borseth’s legacy.
“Forevermore, when someone parks behind us in the Kress Center, they are going to make a turn onto Kevin Borseth Way so that everyone that comes into this facility is going to know the excellence that Coach Borseth brought to this university for over 20 years,” said Alexander.
While the next few months will be focused on a celebration of Borseth’s amazing accomplishments, UW-Green Bay Athletic Director Josh Moon said that remembering Borseth’s legacy is an important part of the journey of his career.
“His legacy will be unmatched at UWGB. You could argue that he has made the biggest impact on UWGB since its inception,” said Moon. “He has over 800 wins and 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. You can look at all these banners around here — the guy is just all about excellence.”
Borseth said that there were multiple factors that went into his decision to pass the baton after this past season.
“A couple of things came into play here,” said Borseth. “I’m going to be 70 in June, so you have to look at age. And the second thing is that the last couple years it has been difficult to recruit. Players know that I am going to retire soon and as a result, I just couldn’t capture. It was evident in the ‘24 class and even more evident in the ‘25 class with players asking that question. At what point do I end up just draining the program and the next coach has nothing left?”
Though his career has spanned a long time, Borseth said that this decision did not come easily at all.
“I was sitting in my office a little while ago thinking, ‘Alright, this is going to be a cakewalk. I’m going to go down there and get this over with and then me and my daughter are going to walk down to the river for some afternoon fishing.’ Then I walked out the door and I just went, wham! It really hit me,” said Borseth.
“I hope God pointed me in this direction and I hope this is where I am supposed to be, because without it there would be a void.”