The world of sports has been in the news lately mostly for all the wrong reasons. Sex abuse scandals on the campuses of Syracuse and Penn State have rocked the nation. Lockouts due to labor strife have threatened both the NFL and NBA seasons.
Now another tragic event has struck college athletics. Oklahoma State head women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash during a recruiting trip Thursday evening. Along with Budke and Serna, the pilot – former Oklahoma state Senator Olin Branstetter — and his wife, Paula perished in the crash.
During his seven years helming the program, Budke compiled a record of 112-83 with three trips to the NCAA tournament. Coming off the Cowgirls’ most successful season, Budke’s team opened the 2011-12 season on Sunday with a win over Rice. The Oklahoma State women were scheduled to play Grambling today. The Grambling team was already in Stillwater, Oklahoma when they learned of the tragedy. Members of the GU squad took time yesterday to pay tribute at a memorial for the victims as seen in the photo above.
The recent fatal crash brought forth horrible reminders of another Oklahoma State tragedy. In 2001, it was the OK State men’s basketball team which was devastated by an aeronautical disaster. After an away game in January of that year, two players, four team officials, a play-by-play announcer, a radio engineer and two pilots were lost in a crash.
Adding insult to injury, Oklahoma State’s football team, undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the nation and seemingly on their way to a shot at the national title, were upset by Iowa State in double overtime Friday night.