Kresimir COSIC

Krešimir Ćošić was the first great Yugoslav basketball player and the first to train overseas. Ćošić attended Brigham Young University, where he played basketball for three years, and converted to the Mormon faith. At 2.06 metres (6-9), Ćošić played power forward or center and won three Olympic medals – gold in 1980 and silver in 1968 and 1976. Ćošić also helped Yugoslavia win two world championships (1970, 1974) and three European championships (1973, 1975, 1977). He was the third international player inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He later worked as a Croatian Diplomat at their embassy in the United States. He died fairly young from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Ćošić served to proselytize the Mormon religion in Croatia, converting many Croats, and also translated the Book of Mormon into Croatian.