Kresimir Cosic

I think A Hero is someone who made or did something different. My Hero did something different. His name is Kresimir Cosic. He came from Europe to play basketball at BYU. He is my hero because he did what he wanted to do and what he wanted to do was to play basketball here in the U.S.

Kresimir was born 1948 in Zagedar and was raised in Zadar. He was the frist European to get a All-American honors from the United press. After finishing college, Kresimir had many offers from teams in the NBA but refused to take them and returned to Yugoslavia. Even though he returned home he didn’t stop playing basketball. Instead, he joined the Olympic team. When he was in the Olympics he led his team to the championship four times, winning the gold medal each time.

After his playing years were over he became the coach for the Yugoslavian Olympic team. As coach, he earned his team a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Kresimir Cosic died 1995 on May 25 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He became the third international player to be elected into the basketball hall of fame and was the second men’s basketball player to get his jersey retired at BYU.

My hero did something different. He was a first person hero. He didn’t wait for someone else to come and play basketball in the U.S., he came and did it. That makes my hero different. That’s why I chose Kresimir Cosic.