Kresimir Cosic

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.

Cosic 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. Read more ->

Drazen Petrovic

Dražen Petrović (October 22, 1964 – June 7, 1993) was a Croatian basketball player. A tireless shooter and prolific scorer, Petrović is arguably the most celebrated basketball player to ever emerge from Europe. He is considered the crucial part of the vanguard to the present-day mass influx of European players into the NBA.

Early Years

Born in Šibenik, a city on the Croatian coast, in the former Yugoslavia, Dražen Petrović was the second child of Jovan “Jole” and Biserka Petrović. The couple’s first child, Aleksandar, would be the first one to tread the basketball path, providing a lead for young Dražen to follow. At the age of thirteen Dražen started playing in the youth selections of the local BC Šibenka; at the age of fifteen he had already made the first team, just as Šibenka earned a place in the national first division.

With young Petrović as the star of the team, Šibenka reached the final of the Radivoj Korać Cup twice (1982 and 1983), losing to CSP Limoges both times. In 1983 the 18 year-old Petrović hit two free throws for Šibenka’s victory over BC Bosna Sarajevo in the final playoff game of the Yugoslavian club championship, but the title was taken away from Šibenka the next day by the national basketball federation and awarded to Bosna shortly after, with irregularities in refereeing cited as the reason.

Petrović regularly played for the Yugoslavian national team in the Balkan Championships, winning bronze and gold with the junior team and silver with the first team. In 1982 he also brought back the silver from the European Championship for Junior Men in Greece. Read more ->