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BYU men's basketball set to travel to Italy and Croatia – BYUCougars.com
The BYU men’s basketball team will travel to Italy and Croatia from August 18-28 as part of its international trip.
PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s basketball team will travel to Italy and Croatia from August 18-28 as part of its international trip.
“I’m super eager for us to bond on this trip. Our season is going to be defined by how close we are,” said BYU head coach Mark Pope. “The capital we put in the bank in terms of us being together, is super important. We know what we’re up against this season. We know what we’re going to face. We can’t wait to get into this season and everything it brings. The guys are growing together right now, and they’ll make more huge strides on this trip. That’s going to be our special sauce. What we become this season will be determined by how close we become as a group.”
The Cougars will spend the opening two days of the trip in Milan touring the Duomo di Milano, hosting a fireside and playing its first of four games against Orange 1 Basket Bassano.
They will spend one day exploring Venice before traveling to Trieste on August 22 to face Pallacanestro Trieste. The following day sees the Cougars travel to Zadar, Croatia, home of Krešimir Ćosić. The former Cougar legend and All-American ranks fourth on BYU’s all-time rebounding list with 919 boards, while recording a team-record 47 double-doubles.
“We’re going to Krešimir Ćosić’s, Zadar, Croatia,” Pope said. “We’re playing KK Zadar in Kresimir Cosic Arena. We’re going to work the Kresimir Cosic Basketball Camp. We’re having a meal with his extended family and taking some gift and memorabilia for them. It’s going to be super special.”
Upon graduation, Ćosić became very much involved with basketball throughout Europe. He had offers to play in the NBA from the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, but he chose to return home and play for the Yugoslavian National Team for $250 a week. Ćosić played on four Olympic teams with his native land, winning a gold medal in 1980 and two silver medals in 1968 and 1976. He ended his career as his country’s all-time scoring leader and went on to coach the Yugoslavian national team for many years.
His national and international accomplishments led to his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, on May 6, 1996, making Ćosić the first BYU player and second Cougar, along with former coach Stan Watts, to receive the prestigious honor. He is also a member of the Utah Basketball Hall of Fame, inducted in 2001.
“Krešimir Ćosić, in so many ways, is the perfect example for our guys,” Pope said. “We’re trying to be a great team. We want to be the best team in the country, and I want that to be the third, fourth, fifth or sixth-most important thing these guys accomplish in their lives. Think about what Kresimir did here as a basketball player and then as an ambassador to the whole world. In an area of the world that was getting torn to pieces, he was one of the voices standing up, trying to bring sense to what was senseless. I’m excited for our guys to learn more about Kresimir on this trip and understand how they can have that impact on the world too. That’s why we’re here. We’re here to win, win huge and even more importantly grow into incredible young men who will change the world. I have a bunch of guys on this roster who are far along in the process of changing the world.”
While in Zadar, the team will participate in a basketball clinic at Krešimir Ćosić Hall, visit where Cosic grew up and play against four-time Croatian League champions KK Zadar. They will continue the tour with two days in Split including their fourth and final game of the trip before spending the final two days in in Dubrovnik before returning to Utah late on August 27.
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