UND basketball remembers Kobe Bryant

Fighting Hawks players and coaches say they were inspired by the NBA Legend

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — News of the shocking and tragic death of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant had the world shaken up on Sunday, and that includes here in the state of North Dakota, where both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at UND have felt the impact.

“Kobe just meant so much to the game of basketball,” senior guard Billy Brown said. “You hear all the stories throughout our team – we had multiple teammates crying. I know multiple teammates have met him growing up. Just the way he inspired our whole team even to be basketball players – it is just a sad day.”

“In high school, my JV coach always called me Kobe and once I got here, coach Moe started to call me Kobe, without knowing about my high school coach,” freshman guard Kacie Borowicz explained. “He is someone I have always looked up to and I have tried to mimic his game. It is just heartbreaking.”

“One of the things that I read that I thought was bigger than what people think is that he was taking his kid to an AAU deal yesterday morning,” UND men’s basketball head coach Paul Sather said. “He was at mass yesterday morning. He was going to mass just like a lot of other Catholics are going to mass and it just made me feel a lot better about where his daughter is and where his family is. I just feel like he was in the right place when it happened, for him spiritually and that is a big deal to me. I think our guys need to know that.”