Krešimir Ćosić

For the Croatian politician, see Krešimir Ćosić (politician).

Krešimir Ćosić

Personal information
Born	(1948-11-26)26 November 1948 Zagreb, PR Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia
Died	Baltimore, Maryland
Nationality	Croatian
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Career information
College	BYU (1970–1973)
NBA draft	1973 / Round: 5 / Pick: 84th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers
Playing career	1965–1983
Position	Center
Coaching career	1984–1991
Career history
As player:
1965–1969	Zadar
1973–1976	Zadar
1976–1978	AŠK Olimpija
1978–1980	Sinudyne Bologna
1980–1983	Cibona
As coach:
1984–1985	Split
1986–1988	Yugoslavia
1987–1988	Virtus Bologna
1988–1991	AEK Athens
Career highlights and awards
2x EuroBasket MVP (1971, 1975) 2x fourth-team All-American – NABC (1972–1973) 3× First-team All-WAC (1971–1973) No. 11 retired by BYU
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006
Medals Representing Yugoslavia Summer Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Team 1976 Montreal Team 1980 Moscow Team FIBA World Cup 1967 Montevideo Team 1970 Ljubljana Team 1974 Puerto Rico Team 1978 Philippines Team FIBA EuroBasket 1969 Italy Team 1971 West Germany Team 1973 Spain Team 1975 Yugoslavia Team 1977 Belgium Team 1979 Italy Team 1981 Czechoslovakia Team Mediterranean Games 1967 Tunis Team 1971 Izmir Team

Krešimir Ćosić (26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian professional basketball player and coach who represented Yugoslavia internationally, a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University, and a 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, as well as the deputy ambassador of Croatia to the U.S. in Washington, D.C.

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. In the 1972 NBA Draft he was picked by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 10th round (144th overall). The following year at the 1973 NBA Draft he was picked by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 5th round (84th overall). 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 Summer 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 FIBA 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.

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.

Death

In the years following basketball he worked in the United States as a Croatian diplomat at the embassy in Washington, D.C., having helped secure the land where the embassy now stands. Ćosić died in Baltimore, Maryland in 1995 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Honors

• On 4 March 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.
• Croatian national basketball cup and KK Zadar's home arena are named after him.
• The Croatian landmark formerly known as Califfi Castle now carries the name of this basketball superstar and Churchman.
• There is a square in Zagreb, Croatia that bears his name (Trg Krešimira Ćosića).
• A street in Zadar carries his name.
• One of top medalists of FIBA's World Championships (4 medals)
• multiple participant of FIBA All-Star Games, playing on the side of European Selection roster
• FIBA's 50 Greatest Players: 1991
• 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors: 2008

External links

• Krešimir Ćosić at BYUCougars.com
• Todd Bluth. "Former BYU All-American's Jersey Retired", The Daily Universe (byu.edu), 6 March 2006
• Krešimir Ćosić profile, Basketball Hall of Fame webpage
• Krešimir Ćosić profile, Fibaeurope.com
• Krešimir Ćosić profile, interbasket.net
• FIBA Hall of Fame page on Krešimir Ćosić, halloffame.fiba.com
• Krešimir Ćosić: An Off-Court Story

1. REDIRECT Template:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame members