Kurt Budke, coach of the women's basketball team at Oklahoma State University, was killed in the crash of a small plane last night in Perry County, Ark.
Also dead: assistant women's basketball coach Miranda Serna and two others, including the pilot. The coaches had been on a recruiting trip to Arkansas.
"Budke was in his seventh season as Cowgirl coach, with an all-time record of 112-83. His team was 1-0 after a convincing victory over Rice Sunday. Under his direction, OSU made postseason appearances each of the past five seasons, including three trips to the NCAA tournament.
"In the 2009-10 season, the Cowgirls won 24 games, including a school-record six victories against Top 25 teams, achieved a top-10 national ranking for the first time ever and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament."
The Tulsa World recalls that "earlier this year, Oklahoma State commemorated the 10th anniversary of the January 2001 plane crash that killed 10 members of the university's men's basketball travel party. After a game at Colorado, one of the Cowboys' team planes crashed near Byers, Colo."
Update at 10:55 a.m ET. More Details:
According to The Oklahoman, the plane came down around 4:30 p.m. local time Thursday. The newspaper says "a local deer hunter's wife called 9-11 to report the crash on national forest land, said Mike Surrett, chief deputy criminal investigator at the Perry County Sheriff's Department. 'She saw the [single-engine] airplane swirling. It basically nose-dived and crashed,' Surrett said."
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