Denver to Honor Vince Boryla throughout Season

Nov. 11, 2016

DENVER - The University of Denver men's basketball team will honor former Pioneer great Vince Boryla throughout the upcoming season. Boryla passed away back in March of this year.

DU will wear special "VB" patches on its jerseys for every game during the 2016-17 season, starting with the season opener at home against Jacksonville on Saturday.

Boryla played basketball for the Pioneers from 1948-49.

Boryla is the only consensus All-American in Pioneer men's basketball history. He was also a two-time AAU All-American and later played (1949-54) and coached (1955-58) for the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks and earned a spot on the NBA All-Star team in 1951. Boryla was also a member of the 1948 United States Gold Medal Winning Olympic Team.

After his playing career ended, Boryla moved into the front office for the American Basketball Association's Utah Stars and the NBA's Denver Nuggets. One of the University's most famous alumni, Boryla was inducted into the University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996, the Hall's inaugural year. Boryla is also a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame ('73), National Polish-American Hall of Fame ('84) and Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame ('86). Boryla was also named the NBA's Executive of the Year for the 1984-85 season.

Denver will honor Borlya with a brief tribute on Saturday, before doing a full video tribute on Dec. 17 at home against Northern Colorado.