Yahosh Bonner

January 11, 2009—Yahosh Bonner, a 6′ 1″, 215 lb., senior, guard is enjoying his final season at Northern Colorado. The Bears currently have a 15-3 overall record and are tied with Weber State for the Big Sky Conference lead at 4-1. Bonner is averaging a little more than 7 points per game with a season high 19 versus the University of Montana. We spent a few minutes with the 2009 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic MVP and asked him about basketball, his mission experience and his recent marriage. He even shared with us a little surprise. Photo: Northern Colorado Sports Information

LatterDaySports: Tell us about your name.

Yahosh Bonner: My first name is actually Kuregiy. It’s a Swahili name. I was named after my dad’s favorite college professor. My middle name is Yahoshuwah which is Hebrew for Jesus. It’s a variation of Jesus’ name in Hebrew—Yahoshuwah. So that’s where my parents got that middle name.

LatterDaySports: Where did you grow up?

Bonner: I’m originally from Las Vegas and lived there until I was twelve. I lived in Utah for a couple of years. I played high school ball in Cedar City my freshman and sophomore years and then I went to high school in Mesa, Arizona and did my junior and senior years at the school there. So I was just all over. My parents moved to New York and after living in Arizona I went on my mission to Tampa, Florida. I came back and went to junior college in Arizona for a year and then went to Salt Lake Community College. I came to Northern Colorado last year.

LatterDaySports: After finishing at Salt Lake Community College you were recruited by a number of 4-year schools. Why did you pick Northern Colorado?

Bonner: I came for my visit and the coaches were really sincere. The guys here were good guys. I really liked how real the coach was with me (in regards to) where the program was at. He had a lot of high hopes and he said that my style of play could fit this program . . . and I feel like it has. I wanted to go somewhere where I was wanted, and they made me really feel wanted. They made me feel like I’d be a part of something bigger than myself here at Northern Colorado.

Yahosh Bonner and the Northern Colorado Bears are currently ranked No. 12 in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Photo: Northern Colorado Sports Information

LatterDaySports: What was your mission like in Tampa, Florida?

Bonner: It was great. It was nice and humid. It was hot. I really loved it a lot. I spent a lot of my time in the city of Tampa and got to meet a lot of different people from different places like Haiti and Cuba. It was a really neat experience. I once served in a branch where the majority (of members) were not all black which was neat and a change from the west. I really connected with a lot of people and made some good friendships. I was able to teach the gospel to my brothers and sisters out there.

LatterDaySports: Did you learn any different languages while there?

Bonner: I was in English (speaking areas throughout my) mission but we also had some Creole speaking missionaries who taught the Haitians and some Spanish speaking missionaries that taught a lot of the Cubans so when we got together they shared those languages and I got to learn some Creole. More Creole then Spanish and that was really neat because in some of my areas there were a lot of Haitians.

LatterDaySports: So that came in handy?

Bonner: A little bit.

LatterDaySports: I understand that you recently got married.

Bonner: Yeah I got married this past June and just this Christmas I found out that my wife is pregnant.

LatterDaySports: Congratulations!

Bonner: Thank you.

LatterDaySports: When will the baby be born?

Bonner: We don’t know yet. Her first Doctors appointment is next week.

LatterDaySports: That’s exciting! Where did you get married?

Bonner: We got married in Salt Lake in her grandparent’s back yard.

LatterDaySports: And how did you meet?

Bonner: We met at a singles ward at Salt Lake Community College.

LatterDaySports: So you had a long distance relationship?

Bonner: Yeah we did the long distance thing last year.

LatterDaySports: I’m sure that must have been hard.

Bonner: Yeah it was rough. She missed me a lot. (laughter) Nah, I missed her a lot too.

LatterDaySports: How do you balance school, basketball, and being married?

Bonner: It’s definitely a lot. I’ve always been a basketball player so I always had to balance basketball and school. Now that I’m married it’s different, but I think it’s only helped me because I’m a lot happier. I have somebody to come home to and she’s always asking me, “Did you do your home work? or “Do you have anything else to do?”, so she helps keep me on task.

LatterDaySports: How do you stay mentally focused to play tough defense throughout the entire game?

Bonner: One thing our coach really stresses is to play in control of our effort and attitude. Knowing that, we just go out there and give it all we have. My contribution is defense. That’s what I focus on. I really focus on trying to bring a lot of energy to the court in hopes that it rubs off on my team and also gets the opposing guards riled up so they make mistakes.

LatterDaySports: The Bears are having a really good season this year. What do you attribute that to?

Bonner: We’ve come a long way this year. We’ve really been focused. I think our defense has gotten a lot better since last year and we want that to be our identity. We want to be known as a good defensive team and we never want to give up. We go really hard in practice. Our practices are a big reason why we’ve had great success. We play at practices like they’re games. We go as hard as we can.

LatterDaySports: Are there a lot of newcomers on this years team?

Bonner: We have a lot of new young players but most of our guys came back (from last year’s team) and I think that’s helped a lot too. We already have that chemistry and we know where we’ve been and we know where we don’t want to go again. We know that we don’t want to have a losing season again. We’ve tasted defeat and we’ve tasted victory and we’d really like to taste victory a lot more.

LatterDaySports: This last question is just kind of a fun one. What has been your favorite church calling?

Bonner: I just recently got called to be the Sunday school teacher for fifteen year olds. I think that’s going to be really great, but before that I would say second counselor in the elders quorum presidency. That was a lot of fun. You get to see a lot more of how the church works and be more involved with organizing and getting out there and being a helping hand for the church.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 7:49 pm. It is filed under Basketball and tagged with Northern Colorado Bears, Salt Lake Community College Bruins, Yahosh Bonner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.