Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Draft

The NBA Draft is tonight. For a young college basketball player this is the night dreams can come true. This is the night a player not only finds out if they are going to get to play in the NBA, but to which team they will be adding their skills to. What a nerve-racking experience it must be for one to wait to hear his name called. Likewise, this is a long and nerve-racking night for NBA team owners, GM's, scouts, and coaches because this night, and the events that take place, could determine the success of their team for the next five to ten years. This is especially tough for them because often those who do really well and get picked really high in the draft don't always end up being the superstars in a very talented and tough league to play in.
    There are many examples in the history of the NBA draft of this happening. The most famous case of this came in 1984 when Sam Bowie(Who?) was drafted number two by the Portland Trailblazers while the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan with their number three overall pick, and the rest is history. Michael Jordan went on to change the sports of basketball by winning multiple championship titles filled with many MVP trophies while Sam Bowie had an average NBA career.
   There are times in our lives when we are faced with a draft of our own. We need to truly scout out our options of what is going to be best for us in our lives, and our team. For some they choose to draft a player who, to the world, looks appealing at times but in the end will destroy a franchise. This player is Satan and anything he supports. Never practicing(no church attendance), a ball hog(selfishness), and contention are just a few of his attributes. We need to avoid this temptation and draft a true superstar. We need to draft Jesus Christ onto our team!

"With the 1st pick in the draft of life(insert name) selects...Jesus Christ!"

    When we make that draft choice we need to make Christ our top pick and the "Center" of our team. He, unlike Satan, will always step it up in crunch time and be there for us. Whether it be to make a big shot, to rebound our missed shots, or assist us, He is a very reliable team-mate. He is one that can change not only our team, lives, but the whole league, world.

 "Choose you this day whom ye will draft, but as for me and my team we will draft the Lord!" This is the only guaranteed successful draft pick, for our team, in our lives. This is one I can guarantee you because I've seen the impact He's made on my team, and it's something no one else could offer. I know if you will draft Him, though the game will not be easy, you will come out on the winning end. You will see the blessings that come to you, and your team, and you will never want to trade Him. Instead you'll sign a life long contract to Him, which will be the greatest decision you will ever make. This is what will lead you to become a true Champion!

Krešimir Ćosić: Basketball Star and Churchman

Before there was Danny Ainge and before we even knew what a Jimmer was there was Krešimir Ćosić. Krešimir Ćosić was born in Yugoslavia in 1948. He started his basketball career playing in 1965 for the KK Zadar. He lead his hometown team to the Yugoslavian national championship and later represented his nation at the Mexico City Olympics where they won a silver medal. In 1970 he ventured over to the U.S. to play college basketball for Brigham Young University. Ćosić, an Atheist, didn't choose the school based off of religion but rather just the desire to play American basketball. In fact he says he knew nothing about the church. " I had never heard about the Church before I came here. In Yugoslavia most of the young people are completely atheistic, and that’s the way I lived. When I came to Provo I didn’t change. I was an atheist for two years while I was in Provo. Nobody was farther from becoming a Mormon than I was. I just lived my way, and people lived their way. I obeyed all the rules of BYU, tried to be as good as I could, and tried to play ball and do my studying and other things.." says Ćosić.
    While changing religions was no where to be found on his radar he quickly became a fan favorite. As a 6'11" center he sure didn't play like one. He was famous for his uncenterlike skills like leading the fast break, putting up long outside shots, two handed layups, and shooting underhand shots along the baseline against taller defenders. This play quickly earned him nicknames like “the wild giraffe”, “the runaway camel”, and “the tallest guard in the league.” Averaging 19.1 points per game he helped lead BYU to two WAC titles and became the first foreign player to earn All-America honors.
    After two years of playing ball and attending school Ćosić wanted to know more. "When I was a junior, I decided to figure out a few things. I had things I wanted to know." In 1971 after meeting with the missionaries he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When talking about his conversion Ćosić says "I didn’t decide to join the Church because of any one thing. There were some things that I wanted to know. I had a few questions that no one could answer. It just happened. We as Mormons believe in personal things everyone can know by himself. It all depends on how bad you want to know something. That’s the whole point. If we have a desire in the Church to know something, we will know it; there’s no question about that. If something is really bothering you, you probably go to somebody for advice. If it’s football you want to know about—what kind of a play you are going to play—you can ask me, and I don’t have any idea. I just can’t help. It’s the same if you’re going to the wrong church. They can’t give you an answer. So you ask, and find out, and you join the true church. So I just decided to join the Church."
    The Church not only effected Ćosić but on many others from his native land. He first served as the LDS presiding priesthood holder in post-communist Croatia. He was responsible with the translation of The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants into Croatian. Later he was able to introduce the gospel to Yugoslavia. Many believe that because of Ćosić's influence Yugoslavia recognized the Church in 1975. In the same year, Church leaders formed Yugoslavia's first Latter-day Saint congregation in Zadar. Between 1993 and 1998, the Church provided thousands of tons of food, clothing, bedding and medical supplies to Croatia. Since 1995 the Church has participated in a project to assist Croatian farmers. Currently there are just over 500 members in six congregations in Croatia.
    In 1995 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and passed away at the age of 46 years old. We may never know the full impact Krešimir Ćosić had on spreading the gospel to others but this does help us know that our Heavenly Father is always looking for ways to move His work forward, including using a basketball player to open up others to Him.
 

The Spiritual Side of Jimmer

Jimmer Fredette has had an amazing season on the basketball court this year leading the BYU Cougars to a #8 national ranking and a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament, which starts today. Even being a missionary in little Dillon, Montana I've seen the effects of "Jimmer Mania". There has been a lot of buzz surrounding his performance on the court from members and non members alike. This has also sparked a few conversation about the church. This video produced by Mormon Times takes a look at Jimmer and his spiritual side, how the gospel has shaped his life, and how he believes he's been blessed with a God given talent. As a Mormon, a missionary, and a big BYU fan it's nice to see someone put on such a pedestal who is so down to earth and willing to recognize the role the gospel and God has made in his life.

A Hoops Reunion


Here's a great story from the Church News on Jimmer Fredette's father's conversion story to the church and the connection he was able to make with the missionary who converted him and their sons.
       As a cliché, "It's a small world" can ring remarkably true in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thanks to a world-wide proselytizing effort that has sent missionaries to locales across the globe to find, teach and baptize people for more than a century and a half, the Church can sometimes resemble one massive, extended family. Members everywhere seem to know someone who knows someone who knows someone. ...
For a pair of old friends (one a returned missionary — the other, his former investigator) their "small world" could be aptly measured at 94 feet — the length of a college basketball court.
In 1969, Idaho native Kimball Rogers was called as a Mormon missionary to the Cumorah Mission, headquartered out of Rochester, N.Y. During his first winter in the field he was assigned to the Glens Falls area of New York not far from the Vermont border. There he met a recent convert named Bonnie Fredette who had a younger brother, Al, who was investigating the Church. Both Elder Rogers and 18-year-old Al shared a common passion — basketball.
 
Elder Rogers was eager to teach Al the missionary discussions. So he threw down a challenge underneath the Fredette family hoop: "If I could beat Al in a basketball game in his driveway, he would listen to a lesson."
Al Fredette can't recall the outcome of those outdoor contests 41 years ago, but he does remember picking up some snacks for the missionaries and inviting them "to come inside and talk for awhile." Later that summer, Al was baptized by his older brother, Dennis, who had joined the Church in Germany. Elder Rogers was eventually transferred to another area and the two young men lost contact.
Fast forward four decades. Al Fredette had passed on his love of basketball to his son, Jimmer, who had established himself as one of the nation's top college ball players at Brigham Young University.


 Three time zones away from New York and living in Arizona, Kimball Rogers had raised a ball player himself. Youngest son Stephen claimed junior college All-American honors at Mesa Community College last year then transferred to BYU prior to the 2010-2011 season.
Before the start of the season, Jimmer told his dad about a promising new teammate named Stephen Rogers. The name meant nothing to Brother Fredette, who still lives in upstate New York and serves as the ward mission leader in the Glens Falls Ward, Albany New York Stake. "Jimmer just told me Stephen was a good, tough player who shot the ball well."
Kimball Rogers had not forgotten Al Fredette. He can point to passages in his missionary journal and read about winter afternoons spent shooting hoops together in the Fredette driveway followed by missionary discussions in the family living room. "I could still remember him in my mind."
The two men, now the fathers of grown children, were reunited following a BYU game last year at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. Kimball immediately recognized his former investigator. "I knew it was him — the (family) all share the same Fredette look," said Brother Rogers with a laugh.
Brother Rogers introduced himself by his first and last name. "That didn't help because I only knew him as Elder Rogers," said Brother Fredette. He remembered his old driveway "rival" once Brother Rogers clarified that he was "Elder Rogers" from 40 years ago.
"We shook hands and gave each other a hug," said Brother Rogers, a member of the Evergreen Ward, Mesa Arizona Central Stake.
The old friends marvel at the circumstances of their reunion. "It's amazing," said Brother Fredette, "We've both got sons playing at BYU at the same time."
"It makes you realize how small the world is," said Brother Rogers.
    LDS Church News Story