Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1974
Brogden was an end for the Demon Deacons in the early 1930s. He became a coach at Edenton in 1935 and moved to Wilson a year later. After 10 years in Wilson, he moved to Wilmington in 1945.
In 1951, Brogen's New Hanover High football team won the state championship. From 1956 to 1962, his basketball teams won six of seven state championships. During his 40 years as a coach, his teams won 55 championships.
While at Wilson, Brogden's teams won two state baseball championships and one football title. At New Hanover, he led the club to eight championships in basketball, three in baseball titles and one in football.
Brogden was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1970, becoming the first high school coach to receive that honor. He went into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 1974. He was a charter member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Brogden retired in 1976 after 31 years in the New Hanover County school system. The Leon Brogden Holiday Basketball Tournament is played in Wilmington in December of each year. The Wilmington Senior Amateur Golf Tournament is formally known as the Leon Brogden Senior Amateur Golf Championship. New Hanover's gym, Brogden Hall, was dedicated in 1955.
In 2009, Brogden was named the head coach of the Wilmington Star-News' All-Time Football team.
Brogden was born in 1910 in Wake County. He died on Oct. 1, 2000 at the age of 90.
