Over the weekend, Augustana College honored one of its most successful coaches. Family and friends held a surprise, 80th birthday party, for Jim Borcherding.
Associate Director of Athletics, Dave Wrath, says Borcherding served one year as assistant men's basketball coach in 1968, then was head coach for 15 years, from 1969 to 1984. He led the Vikings to the post-season Final Four, four times, including a second place finish in 1981.
Wrath says he was energetic, enthusiastic, and got the most out of his players.
"And the thing I remember about him the most is that I never heard him use a singular pronoun. Everything was always "we" and "us," and "our." It was never "I," "me," or "my." Everything was about the team with him."
Borcherding left the college, and coaching, in 1984 and went into private business.
At Augustana he compiled a record of 314 and 99 and never had a losing season. His conference record of 188 and 52 gave him a winning percentage of .783 that's still the second highest in CCIW history. His teams won six league titles, and finished second seven times.
He's a member of the Augustana College Hall of Fame, and the Quad City Times Sports Hall of Fame.
