“The People’s Champ”

This archived article was written by: Dillon Manzanares

Todd Helgesen can be seen as a tall and caring basketball player who loves to work hard and is always in a happy and cheerful mood, but he is much more than that.
Helgesen is from Kaysville, Utah. He has a big family that consists of 10 people, Todd being the youngest of his seven siblings. He has 19 nephews and nieces. He is the only one out of his family that is not married. His five brothers, two sisters and parents mean the world to him. After serving a two-year LDS mission in
Chile and arriving home last November, he decided he wanted to play college basketball after not even playing high school basketball. He is a hard working walk-on player. Helgesen chose USU Eastern because his good buddy Chase Flint, who played here last year, convinced him too.
Assistant Coach Carter Roe said, “Todd is one of, if not the hardest working young men I have ever been around.” This is Todd’s first year of organized basketball at the college level, and he is leading the team in rebounds. Todd is a no nonsense kind of guy. You give him a job to do and he goes out and does it, or dang near dies trying.”
USU Eastern basketball fan, Jeffrey Fortner described Helgesen as, “the people’s champ.”
Even though Helgesen is a hard working person, that does not mean he doesn’t have a little fun every now and then. While in high school, he enjoyed hanging out with friends and would occasionally toilet paper people’s houses, and throw packets of coffee creamer at cars and watch them splat on the window of the driver’s car.
He was in a car with a friend when they were in a high speed chase with the police, even though the officer was his friend’s brother. Helgesen is most proud of all his hard work and says he doesn’t want to be known as a lazy person. He is also proud of the LDS mission he served and says it’s kind of tough to serve a mission.
Standing at 6 foot 8 inches, he says his basketball game can be compared to Dennis Rodman’s. He plays the game with passion and lives life the same way. His favorite NBA team is the Chicago Bulls, although he is trying to become more of a Utah Jazz fan. Helgesen’s favorite sport other than basketball has to be football. His two favorite football teams are the BYU Cougars and Pittsburgh Steelers. His favorite food is Chinese food.
If he could pick two things to be allergic to he would pick pickles and mustard. If he could choose one thing to happen to him, he would win the lottery. If he were to get a tattoo, he would get a dragon down his side. In his spare time, he is likely to be found playing Texas Hold ‘em or X-Box, hanging out with friends or sleeping.
If Helgesen were to give one piece of advice to younger basketball players, he would teach them that effort beats talent.
He is known to be a happy and cheerful guy. Helgesen gets along with all the team members and is a fun guy to be around. “I never really get into bad moods,” stated Helgesen. Some of his teammates will even knock on his door around midnight in need of a ride to McDonalds. His teammates know that he is reliable and can count on him for things.
After his time at USU Eastern, Helgesen plans on either playing basketball somewhere else, or getting a house with his buddies and having fun. One person that he looks up to is his dad. He says his dad is a smart guy and always seems to do the right thing. But, second on that list might just be Coach Roe. “He’s the man,” Todd said.
The person that has had the biggest impact on his life would have to be Flint. “I wouldn’t be playing basketball without him” The two went to high school together in Kaysville. Flint is one of Helgesen’s best friends. Flint taught him just about everything that he has learned about basketball.
If Helgesen could marry anyone in the world, he would marry Mila Kunis. Well, who knows? Considering the hard-working, fun, happy, cheerful, and kind guy that he is, that might just be a reality.