M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Sports Stuff (Mar. 1, 2002)
by Mike Morrow

Long before Stan Watts (yes, there was BYU basketball before Stan Watts), Mel Hutchins or Kresimir Cosic, a basketball team known as Latter-day Saints College made international history.

The school, which some historians say became a part of BYU, was one of three invited to participate in a 1904 basketball exhibition at the St. Louis Olympic Games. It was the first time basketball, founded 20 years before by Dr. James A. Naismith, had been a part of the Olympics.

Known as the Olympic World's College Basketball Championships, the tournament also included Hiram College of Ohio and Wheaton College of Illinois. Olympic records mention the tournament only briefly because the sport did not become an official Olympic event until 1936. However, the 1904 Olympic Games are memorable even today.

They were the third ever held, following the 1896 Olympics in Athens and the 1900 Olympics in Paris. However, they were small in scale, lasting only five days, with mostly Americans and Canadians on hand because travel costs prevented European athletes from participating.

If nothing else, the 1904 Olympic Games and the neighboring St. Louis World Expo will be remembered for the invention and introduction of the ice cream cone.

Don't worry, Coach!
With 6-foot-5 center Ben Olson playing a major role, the Thousand Oaks, Calif., High School basketball team advanced to the final of the California Interscholastic Federation tournament. Olson is a football All-American who will attend BYU, but says he was not thinking about changing uniforms when he reports to Provo. "I'm a football player who plays basketball," he told Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News. "(Basketball) is something I enjoy when I'm not playing football. But, no, this is it - this is my last basketball game for awhile."

Olympic postscript
Playing key roles for the German Olympic ice hockey team were Church members Stephanie and Sabine Kuerten. Stephanie, who is 23 and married, is the team's starting goalie, and Sabine, who is 24 and married with two children, is a starting defenseman.

Batter up!
A 21-year-old from Salt Lake City is raising eyebrows in Kissimmee, Fla., spring training site of the Houston Astros. However, John Buck isn't likely to make the big leagues yet.

Buck, who joined the Church shortly after marrying his high school sweetheart in 1998, figures to play in Double A at the start of the season and could move up to Triple A. He is a catcher and a solid prospect, though he needs experience, particularly against older and more mature pitchers, according to the Astros.

Recruiting update
BYU women's soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood is all smiles after signing nine players, including one national high school and one national junior college All-American, to letters of intent.

Brooke Bowman of Plano, Tex., who played on the nation's top-ranked high school team, and Jennifer Henry of Pasco, Wash., and Dixie College, who played on the nation's top-ranked junior college team, will be joining the Cougars this fall.

Also signed were three standout players from Utah - Natalie Evans from Salt Lake City Skyline High School, Ashley Smith from Salt Lake City East High School, and Davia King from Orem Mountain View High School. Also signed were players from California (Jamie Rendich from Canyon Country Canyon High School and Brooke Thulin from Huntington Beach), Hawaii (Charlene Lui from Honolulu) and Georgia (Jenavieve Phillips from Kennesaw, Ga.).

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