Fred Bosilevac, Former KU Two-Sport Athlete, Passes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas football and men’s basketball player Dr. Fred N. Bosilevac, 97, died of natural causes Aug. 22, at his home in Mission Woods, Kansas.
 
Bosilevac was a tackle who lettered three seasons for the Kansas football team from 1936-38 for coach Ad Lindsey. He also lettered in 1936-37 in men’s basketball for legendary head coach Phog Allen as the Jayhawks went 15-4 and tied Nebraska for the Big Six regular-season title with an 8-2 league record.
 
According to his obituary, as a freshman, Bosilevac took a class taught by Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball and Kansas’ first men’s basketball coach.
 
Bosilevac graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1943. He was honorably discharged after serving in numerous units in the army, and subsequently served residencies at the University of Kansas and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Bosilevac was certified a diplomat by the American College of Ophthalmology and Surgery in 1948, and started his private practice in 1949 in Kansas City, Kansas. He retired in 1994.
 
Bosilevac was an active member of the University of Kansas Alumni Association and Williams Education Fund. His son, Fred Bosilevac, Jr., played basketball for KU head coach Ted Owens from 1970-72.
 
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