Chuck Orsborn

Chuck Orsborn (1917-2017)

Teams coached: Bradley Braves
Bradley record: 194-56 (.776)
Overall record: 194-56 (.776)

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0  
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  0 
• NIT Championships:  3  (1957, 1960, 1964)
• NIT Appearances:  7  (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965)
• Missouri Valley Regular Season Champion:  1  (1962)

Awards:

• Missouri Valley Coach of the Year:  2  (1960, 1962)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1956-1965	Bradley
1947-1956	Bradley (asst)

Chuck Orsborn Facts

• Charles K. Orsborn
• Born November 17, 1917
• Died May 7, 2017
• Alma Mater: Bradley University (BA, 1939)
• Lettered in four sports (baseball, basketball, football and track & field) at Bradley; his basketball coach was Alfred J. Robertson
  • Orsborn helped lead Bradley to berths in the first two NITs (1938-39) and the inaugural NCAA Tournament (1939)
  • Spent one year after college playing minor league baseball in the New York Yankees organization
  • Served five full years in the Air Force during World War II, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel
• Returned to his alma mater in 1947 to be an assistant under his former coach, Robertson
  • Stayed on staff for nine years under Robertson, Forddy Anderson and Bob Vanatta
  • Part of the 1949-50 team that finished as runner-up in both the NIT and NCAA Tournament
  • Bradley returned to the NCAA title game in 1954 (a loss to La Salle) and the Elite Eight a year later
• Took over as the Braves’ head coach in 1956, going 194-56 in nine seasons at the helm
  • Led Bradley to three NIT titles (plus one more runner-up finish) and won the MVC title in 1962
  • Twice named Missouri Valley COY and won 20+ games in seven of nine seasons (17+ in all nine)
• Shifted from coaching to administration in 1965, serving as the athletic director at Bradley for the next 13 years
  • Inducted into the NIT Hall of Fame, Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame and Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame
  • At a ceremony in 2002, the school named Orsborn the Bradley basketball “Coach of the Century”
  • The Bradley athletic department also honored him as the namesake of the Charles Orsborn Award, given to a graduating senior student-athlete with the ability “to combine athletic and academic success with community service”
• Passed away at age 99 in 2017; preceded in death by wife, Janet, and sons, Charles Jr. and James; survived by daughter, Carolyn

Chuck Orsborn Coaching Tree

• Joe Stowell (Bradley)