Krešimir Ćosić

Krešimir Ćosić (November 26, 1948 – May 25, 1995) was a Croatian professional basketball player, member of FIBA Hall of Fame and Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also a notable church leader and missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Basketball career

He was born in Zagreb and raised in Zadar, where he started his basketball career in 1965, playing for KK Zadar. He came to the United States to play college basketball at Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1973. He was the first foreign player to earn All-American honors from the United Press International, garnering them in 1972 and 1973. After his college career, he rejected several professional offers and returned home to Yugoslavia.

Ćosić played in four Olympic Games: 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 in Moscow when he led his team to the gold medal. He previously led Yugoslavia to a pair of World Championship gold medals in 1970 and 1978.

Coaching

Following his playing days, he turned to coaching, and led the former Yugoslav team to a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and two bronze medals at the 1986 FIBA World Championship and 1987 EuroBasket. In 1996 Ćosić became only the third international player ever elected to the world's Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, the birthplace of basketball.

Death

In the years following basketball he worked in the USA as a Croatian diplomat at the embassy in Washington, D.C. Ćosić died in Baltimore, Maryland in 1995 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Church life

During his time at the Brigham Young University, he converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and later served as the LDS presiding priesthood holder in post-communist Croatia. He was baptized by Hugh Nibley, one of the LDS church's most celebrated scholars. Ćosić also introduced the LDS Church to Yugoslavia. He translated the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants into Croatian.

Honours

*On March 4, 2006, Ćosić became just the second men's basketball player to have his jersey retired by BYU (the other was Danny Ainge).
*In 2007, he was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
*The Croatian landmark formerly known as Califfi Castle now carries the name of this basketball star and Churchman.

References

* [http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/58751 "Former BYU All-American's Jersey Retired"] , Todd Bluth, "The Daily Universe", March 6, 2006

External links

* [http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-kresimir-cosic.html Basketball Hall of Fame profile]
* [http://www.interbasket.net/players/cosic.htm Kresimir Cosic Player Profile (InterBasket)]
* [http://www.halloffame.fiba.com/pages/eng/hof/indu/p/lid_9024_newsid/18008/playBio.html FIBA Hall of Fame page on Cosic]
* [http://www.basketpedya.com/Acc002InfJug.php?idjug=5059&idioma=3 Career basketpedya.com]