Josh•Karee•Ellie•Alexis: The Big Elf

This past weekend Josh's grandpa finally got his basketball jersey retired! The whole Hutchins family came into town and we had a huge week long party. Here's a little bit about Grandpa Hutch from some BYU articles.

"Hutchins, known for his defensive and rebounding prowess, is one of the greatest post players to suit up for BYU. In three years playing on the varsity squad, Hutchins led the Cougars to three Skyline Conference titles (1948, 1950, 1951) and the 1951 NIT National Championship. Hutchins was a two-time first-team All-Skyline Conference honoree and was named a first-team All-American in 1951 by Look Magazine, Converse, Helms and Sporting News.

As a senior Hutchins averaged 15.4 points and set a BYU single-season record for rebounds with 471 (12.7 per game), a record that still stands today. Known as ‘The Big Elf’ (1950-51 BYU basketball media guide), Hutchins earned a spot in the East-West game following his senior season and was named the game’s MVP.

Hutchins’ amassed 900 rebounds his junior and senior seasons to rank fourth all-time in career rebounding at BYU (rebounding records for his sophomore season are not available). Despite just two seasons of rebound totals on record, Hutchins is just 22 behind the all-time leader Michael Smith who played four seasons for the Cougars.
After graduating from BYU in 1952, Hutchins was drafted second overall in the 1951 NBA Draft. When No. 1 pick Gene Melchiore was given a lifetime ban from playing in the NBA, Hutchins was recognized as being the No. 1 overall pick and was given the $7,000 bonus that was awarded to the top pick in the NBA Draft.
Hutchins went on to win the 1952 NBA Rookie of the Year award and lead the league in rebounding (880) and rebounding average (13.3) that same season. A five-time NBA All-Star selection (1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958), Hutchins led three NBA teams to Western Division titles. He concluded his NBA career with 4,851 points, 4,186 rebounds and 1,298 assists."

Basically he's really great. But the thing is, he's not just a great basketball player. He's one of the kindest people in the world. Since the first day I met him, he's always given me a huge hug and always asks "How's my babe?" Maybe he calls me babe because it took him a long time to learn how to say "karee" haha Grandma LoRene wrote him a sticky note with my name on it and he carried it with him everywhere until he remembered how to say it. It was the cutest thing! Anyway, this weekend was all about Grandpa Hutchins and spending time with family and it was really fun.

We started the weekend off with some bowling at the Heber Holiday Bowl and a CSO (cousin sleep over)

Things got a little crazy..

The next morning these two crazies did the Polar Bear Plunge at Deer Creek. Where people were ice fishing that morning... it was freezing. They're crazy!

Later that day we went down to Provo to celebrate these two getting their jerseys retired. Roland Minson and Mel Hutchins

There was a little tire trouble on the way down the canyon... but we made it on time!

At the dinner before the game we got to hear from all the 1951 National championship team. It was fun to hear their stories and how much they all loved being teammates and have remained friends over the years.