Bernhard "Bennie" Borgmann enshrined as a player in 1961

Bernhard "Bennie" Borgmann

Enshrined 1961
Born: November 22, 1900
Haledon, NJ
Died: November 11, 1978

An outstanding set shooter who could also drive to the basket with great skill, Bennie Borgmann was professional basketball's number one scorer in the 1920s. Playing for numerous teams including the Kingston Colonials, Fort Wayne Hoosiers, Chicago Bruins, Brooklyn Americans, and Newark Mules, Borgmann earned fifteen scoring titles in the American, Metropolitan, and New York State Leagues. Averaging 9.4 points per game, he led the Patterson Legionnaires to the 1923 Metropolitan League Championship, and in the same year averaged 11.7 points per game taking the Kingston Colonials to the New York State League title. In 1929, he led the Fort Wayne Hoosiers to the ABL Finals. Borgmann, who was consistently named to all-pro teams, frequently tallied ten or more points in an era when most teams would rarely score more than 30 points in a game. In the 1930s, Bennie became a player-coach for many of his teams, and turned exclusively to coaching in the 1940s. Borgmann, who also played professional baseball, spent over 50 years in professional sports playing in close to 3,000 basketball and 2,000 baseball games.