The French Fry is completely satire. Any resemblance to any real person is completely coincidental. The statements in the French Fry do not reflect the views of the Northern Iowan, nor do they reflect the views of the advertisements outside of this insert. 

The UNI men’s basketball team was putting together scholarships for next season, when a mistake led to Owen Bjorn being on the team. Bjorn, a Swedish international student, is at UNI to study business, and had never even touched a basketball.

“To say I was surprised when I heard I was getting a scholarship to play basketball here would be an understatement. I never played basketball at all growing up in Sweden, and do not really know anything about it. The only sport I ever played was soccer.”

Bjorn received the scholarship in a mess up with now former UNI men’s basketball player Bowen Born. Their names are incredibly close, and the team mistook Bjorn for Born. Born, who has been a key piece ofto the basketball program for several years now, will not be able to be on the team due to them not having enough scholarships. Born was clearly not pleased with the situation, and opted not to make any comment.

Men’s basketball coach Bon Jakebs was originally frustrated with the mixup, but has found that Bjorn has natural basketball skill.

“Since Owen is receiving that scholarship now, we had to see if he could actually do anything on the court. We got him in the gym for a workout, and while I had zero expectations for what might happen, he really impressed me. He can shoot the ball, and has tremendous court vision and passing ability.”

While there is quite a while before the start of next season, coach made it seem like Bjorn could have a real chance to make an impact on the floor.

“I would say that right now, Bjorn has a chance to start at point guard for us. We are going to keep working with him, and if he continues to improve at the rate he has been, he could be one of the better players in the conference.”

Bjorn was originally uncertain about being a member of the team, but has learned to greatly enjoy the game of basketball.

“I started playing basketball just a couple of days ago, and I am already starting to love the game. Coach seemed to be impressed with what I showed him. I don’t really know what I am doing out there, but I am excited to learn. I can really see myself finding a nice spot on the team.”

What originally seemed like a disaster for the basketball team, may end up being a huge positive. We have to wait and see, but Bjorn might just be the next great thing for UNI basketball.