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He was born in Zagreb and raised in Zadar. He was the first foreign player to earn All-America honors by United Press International, garnering them in 1972 and 1973. He played for Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1973. After his college career, he rejected several professional offers and returned home to Croatia. Played in four Olympic Games (1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 in Moscow when he guided his team to the Gold Medal). He previously led Yugoslavia to a pair of World Championship gold medals in 1970 and 1978. Following his playing days, he turned to coaching, and led the former Yugoslavian team to a silver medal in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Ćosić became only the third international player ever elected to the world's Basketball Hall of Fame,in Springfield, MA. the birthplace of basketball.
In the years following basketball he worked in the USA as a Croatian diplomat at the Embassy in Washington, D.C.