Four-time Olympian and NBL MVP Ray Borner steps up to coach the Bellarine Storm’s championship men

A day after a local basketball association announced it had parted ways with its senior coach, a former Geelong Supercat and NBL MVP was sitting in its front office keen to help.

The Bullets’ Tyrell Harrison receives the Ray Borner Medal for the most valuable player at the 2024 NBL Blitz. Picture: Russell Freeman/Getty Images.

Four-time Olympian Ray Borner had no basketball commitments on the horizon when a Facebook post from a local club caught his eye last week.

In a similar vein to how Surfcoast Chargers mentor Dan Riches saw the job ad while overseas in Florence with his partner, Borner noticed the Bellarine Storm had parted ways with its senior mentor, Luke Beauglehall, last Thursday.

“I saw that there was a disconnect between the coach and the club,” Borner told this masthead, who turns 63 next Tuesday.

“So I reached out ... to see if I could help in any way.

“I’ve been through a couple of restructures through my time and I know how uneasy and uncomfortable it is for both parties.

“I just wanted to see if I could help.”

Ray Borner rises to block Moses Malone against the US in March, 1996.

Based in Indented Head, the former Geelong Supercat and NBL MVP 40 seasons ago put in a call to the Bellarine Peninsula Basketball Association.

Before long, he was in the office on Friday talking about how he might be able to assist, both on and off the court.

“I said if you want me to do (coach), I’d be happy to do it,” Borner said.

“I’m not pushing myself on them ... it was just making sure they had somebody there if they needed.”

Borner thought he might also be able to do some connecting in terms of the BPBA’s upgrade plans, with a business case to extend its facilities currently in the works.

“I might know somebody who might be in the right position to help funding,” he said.

Borner’s resume in the sport is jawdropping: a member of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame; a four-time Olympian and the NBL’s first Australian player to win the league’s MVP award (in 1985) after making his debut as a 17-year-old five years prior.

After 518 games at the top level, he received the Medal of the Order of Australia for “services to basketball” in 2009.

When asked if the BPBA was thrilled with his initial phone call, a modest Borner said the top grass had to do some research on his career.

“They had no idea who I was, initially,” he said.

“(BPBA general manager) Nick (Stamatopoulos) being from overseas and then only being in the country for how ever long he’s been here ... my career ended a lifetime ago,” Borner said.

“Young kids, they don’t know who old people are and you don’t expect them to.

“They had to do some research on who I was.

“That’s life, we all move forward and move on, I certainly don’t try to live in the shadow of who I was, I’m my own person now and I’ve tried to live that way.”

Shaquille O'Neal and Ray Borner tussle during the 1996 Olympics.

The next move was to watch the Storm in action and get a feel for their personnel, so he travelled to Bundoora on Saturday night to see the team go down by 22 points, falling to 11th on the ladder with a 2-7 record in the process.

Before then, Borner had taken a “reasonably active interest” in the team and attended a handful of games.

“It wasn’t about (having) something to work with,” he said.

“To me, it’s more about trying to help and give back.

“If they’re in trouble, I might be able to help.”

However, by Monday, he had been offered the job.

Before then, Borner, who has owned and ran a Ballarat wellness centre for the past 10 years, had no basketball commitments after a few season overseeing Federal University’s hoops program.

In a statement on Wednesday, Stamatopoulos said the association was “absolutely thrilled” to appoint Borner.

Borner on a tram in Ballarat during the lead up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

“Ray’s experience at the highest levels of basketball, both as a player and coach, brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership to our program,” Stamatopoulos said on Wednesday.

“His passion for developing athletes and building strong team culture aligns perfectly with our values at Storm.

“We’re confident Ray will play a key role in guiding our men’s program forward and continuing to grow the game here on the peninsula.”

On the same day, Borner said in the same press release he wanted to “assist in any way I could”, and will take over for this weekend’s double header against Wyndham and Pakenham.

“I’m so excited to continue growing the game at Bellarine and get involved in their devoted basketball community,” he said.

Originally published as Four-time Olympian and NBL MVP Ray Borner steps up to coach the Bellarine Storm’s championship men