Jon Borovich was named director of recruiting operations for the Michigan State men’s basketball program, Head Coach Tom Izzo announced on Monday afternoon.
Borovich started his coaching career at Michigan State as a graduate assistant from 2001-03 under Izzo.
“I’m very excited to welcome Jon back to Michigan State. Jon got his start here as a graduate assistant and it’s great to have him back as a member of our full-time staff,” Izzo said. “He’s had the opportunity to work at several different schools under some coaches I have great respect for in Greg Kampe, Brian Gregory, Mark Montgomery and most recently, Chris Collins, and returns to us with a great pedigree in college basketball. Jon is a hard worker with great energy who will be a great impact for our program.”
Borovich comes to East Lansing after spending three season as an assistant coach at Northwestern. He helped lead the Wildcats to seven Big Ten wins in each of the last two seasons, the program’s most in a year since the 2016-17 season.
Prior to his stint at Northwestern, Borovich spent eight seasons (2011-19) as a member of the Northern Illinois coaching staff, four of which were as the associate head coach. Prior to his arrival in DeKalb, he spent four seasons (2007-11) as an assistant coach at Dayton and two campaigns (2005-07) as an assistant at Oakland.
While at Northern Illinois, Borovich worked under Head Coach Mark Montgomery, a former MSU basketball player and current Spartans assistant coach. Borovich, who was promoted to associate head coach in August of 2015, played a large role in the rebuilding process at NIU that saw the team finish with a 21-13 record in 2015-16, the second-most wins in school history, and earn just the fourth postseason appearance in program history.
As an assistant at Dayton, Borovich helped the Flyers advance to the postseason in each of his four seasons. The Flyers averaged more than 24 wins per season during that span, were ranked as high as No. 14 in the Associated Press poll in 2007-08, went 27-8 in 2008-09 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, won 25 games and the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) title in 2009-10 and again made the NIT in 2010-11.
During his two seasons at Oakland (2005-07), the Golden Grizzlies won 30 games. In Borovich’s second year, Oakland compiled a 19-14 mark, the most wins for the school since joining Division I in 1997.
Borovich began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State from 2001-03, assisting in video analysis while completing his master’s degree in athletics administration. He then spent two seasons (2003-05) at Dayton as the Director of Basketball Operations.
A native of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Borovich played collegiately at Central Michigan from 1997-2001, while Montgomery was working as an assistant coach for the Chippewas. As a senior, Borovich was a part of CMU’s Mid-American Conference championship team that finished with 20 wins, the most for the school since the 1986-87 season.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports studies from Central Michigan in 2001, with a double minor in psychology and coaching. Borovich was a team captain for the Chippewas as a junior and senior while also earning Academic All-MAC honors as a senior.
Borovich and his wife, Kara, have two sons, Bennett and William.
Jon Borovich Named Director of Recruiting Operations for Michigan State Men’s Basketball
