Global Evolution of LDS Basketball

If you think college basketball has changed drastically, wait until you hear about the Global Evolution of LDS Basketball. This happened before the introduction of millions of dollars in NIL deals. Wait until you hear the history of how the sport evolved at BYU and around the world. Dr. Matthew Bowman, co-author of “Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball,” discusses the sport’s explosive, global, and highly controversial growth. https://youtu.be/2jMkUTAVm6s Don’t miss our other discussions with Matthew. https://gospeltangents.com/people/matthew-bowman Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved 0:00 All-Church Basketball Championship 3:10 Olympic/International Basketball 9:37 Big Money Basketball at BYU 23:38 Krešimir Ćosić: Best at BYU? If you think college basketball has changed drastically with the introduction of millions of dollars in NIL deals, wait until you hear the history of how the sport evolved at BYU and around the world. Dr. Matthew Bowman, co-author of Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball, shifts the conversation from the Christian origins of the sport to its explosive, global, and highly controversial growth. The Golden Era of the All-Church Tournament Before March Madness dominated the spring, the All-Church basketball tournament was a massive cultural phenomenon. Flourishing after World War II, the tournament featured thousands of teams from wards all over the globe, with regional champions flying into Salt Lake City to compete in the finals at the Deseret Gymnasium. The tournament was so prestigious that Marion D. Hanks actually quit the University of Utah basketball team just to play in the All-Church tournament. The competition was incredibly fierce—wealthy members would even offer jobs and build houses to lure talented players to move into their wards to stack their local team roster. Hoops Diplomacy: Missionaries Take the Court Long before the controversial “baseball baptisms” of the 1960s, LDS missionaries were using basketball as a grassroots tool for international diplomacy. As Americans who had grown up playing the sport, missionaries arriving in places like Europe, Argentina, and Australia were often vastly superior to local club teams. Using the Protestant language of “muscular Christianity,” missionaries challenged local YMCA and national teams, using the games to break down anti-Mormon prejudices and build bridges. Sometimes, they were so good they ended up coaching or playing for national teams. Missionary Ralph Larson, for instance, stayed in Argentina and became a celebrity playing for the Argentine national team. The Battle for BYU’s Soul: Watts vs. Wilkinson As college basketball grew into a lucrative business, a massive ideological battle took place at BYU. On one side was university president Ernest Wilkinson, who fiercely believed in the pure amateur ideal. Wilkinson believed sports were strictly for the personal edification of current students; he despised the idea of athletic scholarships, recruiting players who didn’t fit the university’s academic mission, or bringing in non-LDS ringers. On the other side was legendary BYU basketball coach Stan Watts, who wanted to modernize the program and compete at the highest level. Watts pushed for scholarships, brought the fast break to BYU, and led the team to an NIT championship at Madison Square Garden. This massive victory brought immense publicity and booster money to the school, eventually paving the way for the massive Marriott Center to be built. The Original AJ Dybantsa: Kresimir Cosic Ultimately, Stan Watts’ vision for a modern, competitive basketball program won out over Wilkinson’s strict amateurism, culminating in the arrival of Kresimir Cosic. Arguably the greatest player in BYU history, Cosic was an incredibly gifted 6’11” forward from Yugoslavia who played with the ball-handling skills of a modern guard. Cosic was not LDS and didn’t even know BYU was a religious school when he decided to come. He met a Finnish BYU player at a European tournament, defected during a game in Italy, hopped in a cab, and flew to New York, calling Coach Watts from the airport to announce his arrival. Cosic was so talented he was drafted into the NBA twice, but turned it down to return to his home country. He eventually embraced the LDS faith enthusiastically, forever changing the trajectory of BYU’s basketball program and proving that international, non-LDS talent could thrive in Provo. To hear more about the dark history of the NCAA’s “student-athlete” myth, Kresimir Cosic’s legendary career, and the modern implications for stars like AJ Dybantsa, check out the full episode on Patreon! Don’t miss our other discussions with Matthew. https://gospeltangents.com/people/matthew-bowman Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved