Coach Leon Brogden watching the New Hanover High School Wildcats play.
Leon Lafayette Brogden, Sr. (1910-2000) was a legendary and much-loved sports figure in Wilmington, NC. He coached football, basketball, and baseball for over 32 years at New Hanover High School (and Wilson and Edenton at the beginning of his career), as well as serving as New Hanover County Athletic Director and Head of Physical Education from 1945-1964. He coached both Sonny Jurgensen and Roman Gabriel while at New Hanover High School. His teams earned 55 conference and state championships, at least 40 of those on the high school level and others in leagues such as American Legion baseball. In football, he led his teams to four Eastern Conference Championships and two State Championships. In basketball he had 13 Easten Conference Championships and 8 State Championships, and in baseball he had 18 Eastern Conference Championships, two State Co-Championships, and four State Championships.
He played end at Wake Forest College and graduated with a BS in Science in 1932. Among his many awards and honors, he was elected into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1970, the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, and the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. In 1988 he was voted by athletic directors, coaches, and high school administrators as the person who had contributed the most to high school sports in North Carolina. The basketball arena at NHHS is named Brogden Hall in his honor, and the annual holiday high school basketball tournament held at the University of North Carolina Wilmington is called the Leon Brogden tournament. He is buried in Oakdale Cemetery.
Date
1981 May 5
Subject
Coaches (Athletics); High schools; Basketball; Wilmington (N.C.)
Format
black-and-white photograph
Identifier
00.598
Source
Star-News Image Archive
Provenance
Donated to the New Hanover County Public Library by the Star-News in 2008
Rights
Copyright is owned by the New Hanover County Public Library. For commercial or other use, permission must be granted.
