Bennie Borgmann
From Hoopedia
Bernard "Bennie" Borgmann (November 22, 1900 in Haledon, New Jersey - November 11, 1978 in Hawthorne, New Jersey) was one of the great early pro basketball players. He was short (5'9") and fast and played an up-tempo game unfamiliar to those accustomed to a lot of perimeter passing.
He played for 17 years between 1919 and 1936, and is mostly known for his time with the Kingston Colonials and the Fort Wayne Hoosiers. He also played with the Chicago Bruins, Brooklyn Americans, and Newark Mules. Borgmann is regarded as the best offensive player of his era. Contrary to some reports, there is no documentary evidence that Borgmann ever played for the Original Celtics, though he certainly played against them numerous times.
Borgmann was a scoring machine, averaging over ten points per game in an era when thirty points was a high team total. In 1923 he led the Patterson Legionnaires to the Metropolitan League Championship, and the Kingston Colonials to the New York State League title.
In the 1946-48 seasons Borgmann coached the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball League to a 45-59 record. In 1948-49 he coached Saint Michael's College to a 14-7 mark. He then coached at Muhlenberg College, 1950-54.
In the off-season Borgmann played, and later coached and scouted in professional baseball. Biographers estimate that he played in nearly 3,000 basketball and 2,000 baseball games. He worked in the St. Louis Cardinals baseball organization for 32 years and then with the Oakland Athletics.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961 as a player.
