GREEN BAY – There was a familiar face at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball practice Tuesday.
When former longtime coach Kevin Borseth retired in April, he planned to stay with the program in some capacity until at least the summer but said he also wouldn’t mind sticking around the sport moving forward. After all, other than spending time with family, there are only so many hours he can work on his fishing game.
Basketball has been too much a part of his life to completely walk away, but Borseth’s presence at practice was not the way it was in past years.
His voice wasn’t heard all that much — at least not as loud as it used to be when he was in charge — but he spent time giving pointers.
Make no mistake, this is first-year leader Kayla Karius’ show now. Still, it’s nice to have one of the all-time winningest coaches in women’s NCAA history in the building.
“It’s been a real blessing to have Coach Borseth still around the program,” Karius said. “He has been a wonderful mentor to me all the way up until this point, even though I actually didn’t even get a chance to play for him. But we have had a really good relationship.”
Borseth gave Karius a ringing endorsement after she was hired by UWGB. He had a few conversations with her during the interview process the same way he did with other candidates he knew.
He believed she checked all the boxes to be the next coach. A former star Phoenix player who understands the culture and already had quality coaching experience despite only being in her mid-30s was a great combination.
Karius committed to play for Borseth at UWGB during her standout high school career at Sheboygan North, but Borseth left to take the women’s job at the University of Michigan before she got to college.
Getting a chance to be around him at UWGB has been a long time coming.
Some new coaches might not want a legendary one to be anywhere close to the program or lurking in the shadows while trying to build their program and identity.
Karius is not that person, instead clearly secure with herself.
She values a leader who is one of only 20 women’s basketball coaches in Division I, DII or the NAIA with more than 800 career wins.
Borseth knows a lot about basketball. He is willing to help in whatever way she needs.
You are darn right she is going to use that resource.
“Since taking over, he has been really helpful,” Karius said. “As far as explaining what they have done, explaining what he believed in. But I think the best part about him and the relationship we have now is for his ability to step back in a way and say, ‘What do you believe in? What do you want to do? Kayla, what is your purpose for today’s practice? Then let’s go achieve that purpose.’
“It’s not, ‘Hey, just so you know, we did this.’ Or, ‘I want you to do this.’ He has been even better than I could have imagined at smoothing over the transition and keeping a lot of things similar. A smooth transition for our players, yet allowing me the space to continue to develop my identity as a head coach and know this next chapter, it may look a little bit different. He wants to see this place thrive.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB women’s coach Kayla Karius happy to have Kevin Borseth around
