• Before joining head coach Mark Montgomery at Northern
Illinois, Borovich served as an assistant coach at Dayton, where
the Flyers reached the postseason in all four of his years on the
bench.
• Borovich cut his teeth as the Director of Operations at
UD before being promoted to assistant coach in 2007, helping his
team advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009,
and win the NIT title in 2010.
• Captain of the Central Michigan Basketball team as a junior
and senior, led the Chippewas to the 2001 Mid America Conference
Championship.
Diary Series: Jon Borovich, Asst. Coach - Northern Illinois ("Taking charge")
Literally and figuratively speaking, our sophomore captain Antone Christian has taken charge. There is no denying the fact that the start of the season for our team has been very challenging and has tested our team’s mettle. Our guys have remained a tight knit unit that has continued to bring their hard hat and lunch pail to work every day knowing that winning is a process that is built on toughness, togetherness and a winning attitude. During difficult times, players need great leadership from both the coaching staff and our players.
Antone Christian has remained steadfast in his approach bringing a spirit and energy with him to practice on a daily basis. More times then not he is the first one to arrive to practice, the last one to leave and the in between he is nonstop chatter, hustle and unselfish play. Although at times this season, Antone hasn’t shot the ball as well as he would like, his attention to detail, defense and effort on the glass has never wavered. Through non conference schedule to date, A.C. is 3rd on our team in scoring, 3rd in rebounding (6’3” shooting guard), 3rd in assists and most importantly, 1st in charges taken (11).
At the beginning of the season our team wasn’t doing a great job of rotating over for charges so we started to put more of an emphasis on it during drills and film work. Coach Montgomery made it very clear to our team that taking a charge is one of the most selfless acts you can do on the basketball court. It requires a player to sacrifice their body for the greater good of the team. In order to take a charge you must be in tune to the game, be in proper help side position and have the willingness to put your chest in front of the ball knowing that there is going to be a collision. Easier said then done for most, but A.C. not only has shown the willingness to do it every day, but you can also see how much he relishes making a great play for the TEAM.
Very rarely does a charge go notice by a casual fan and you hardly ever see a charge on ESPN Sportscenter but every great team and every great teammate understands that taking a charge personifies unselfishness and sacrifice. Putting the team in front of oneself is something that Antone Christian has clearly done thus far during the non-conference portion of the schedule. He truly has taken charge.
Happy Holiday Everyone!
Go HUSKIES!!
JB
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