STILLWATER, Okla. -- An Oklahoma State University official
promised to "leave no stone unturned" in the school's review of
how it transports athletic teams to and from events after two
players and eight others were killed in a plane crash in Colorado.
|  | | A bouquet of flowers rests on the Spirit Rider statue in front of Gallagher-Iba Arena on the Oklahoma State University campus. |
"We will do a complete review of our polices and re-evaluate
the standards of safety that have to be a part of any activity such
as this," Harry Birdwell, vice president of business and external
relations at the school, told reporters at a news conference Sunday
afternoon.
Evoking other college athletic tragedies, such as the Texas A&M
bonfire accident, Birdwell said, "Events like this change the
culture forever."
Oklahoma State coaches and players stayed out of sight Sunday,
one day after reserve players, Dan Lawson and Nate Fleming, and
eight other members of the basketball team's traveling party died
in the crash.
OSU Sports Information Director Steve Buzzard said coach Eddie
Sutton met with athletic director Terry Don Phillips much of the
morning.
"This is a day for, uh ...," Buzzard said, his voice trailing
off. "There's a lot of pain."
Sutton had stayed in his office until after 1 a.m. Sunday,
notifying family members and meeting with his grieving players.
"It was tough on him," said Tom Dirato, OSU's director of
radio and television who was with Sutton most of Saturday night.
"There's none of us who could imagine what it would be like
getting on the phone and calling a father, a mother, an uncle or
just people that you know and say, `What you heard is correct, he
didn't survive.'
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The victims
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Nate Fleming: A 5-foot-11, 185-pound redshirt freshman from
Edmond, he was a walk-on who played in four games last year. He
broke his nose in practice in late December and saw his first
playing time since then against Texas A&M Wednesday night. He
played high school ball at Edmond North, where he was valedictorian
and a National Honor Society member. Born Sept. 11, 1980, he was
the son of Zane and Ann Fleming. He leaves two sisters, Drue and
Sarah.
Daniel Lawson: A 6-5, 215-pound redshirt junior guard from
Detroit, the 21-year-old is survived by his parents, Daniel and
Phyllis Lawson; two brothers, Eric Jordan and Austin Jordan; and
two sisters, Karen Jordan and Shynika Lawson. Lawson came to
Oklahoma State from Mott Community College in Michigan. He played
in two of the first three games last season at OSU, then sat out
the rest of the year as a medical redshirt.
Pat Noyes: Director of basketball operations, the 27-year-old
was in his second year as the Cowboys' administrative assistant. He
spent the 1998-99 season at Georgia State as an administrative
assistant under Lefty Driesell, but before that had served on
Oklahoma State's manager staff for five years, three of them as
head manager.
Will Hancock: In his fifth year as coordinator of media
relations, Hancock joined the staff in October 1996. His primary
duties included publicity for the men's basketball and men's golf
programs, as well as assisting with the public relations duties for
the other 14 sports at OSU. He is
the son of Bill Hancock, director of the NCAA men's basketball
tournament. Married to Karen Hancock, coach of the OSU women's
soccer team. Their first child, Andie, was born Nov. 16.
Brian Luinstra: An athletic trainer for the Cowboys, he
joined the Oklahoma State program in December 1999 after four years
as assistant athletic trainer at Wichita State. Luinstra, 29, also
served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Wichita State
during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 academic years while working on a
master's degree in sports administration, which he completed in
August 1996.
Bill Teegins: The play-by-play voice of the OSU Cowboys and
sports director of KWTV in Oklahoma City, this was Teegin's 11th
season with the team. He had been with KWTV 13 years and was sports
director. He was named Oklahoma Sportscaster of the Year six times.
Teegins moved to Tulsa from St. Paul, Minn., when he was 12. He
graduated from Tulsa Hale High School in 1970 and attended Tulsa
University. His television career started in 1975 in Amarillo,
Texas. He moved to KOTV in Tulsa in 1981.
Jared Weiberg: Student manager, was the nephew of Big 12
commissioner Kevin Weiberg.
Kendall Durfey: Broadcast engineer employed by Oklahoma State
University educational television services.
Denver Mills: Pilot who had flown Oklahoma State athletic
teams for several years. He was a certified public accountant who
also sold and leased aircraft. He leaves a wife, Lindell Mills;
son, David Mills, 21, a student at OSU; and daughters Kathryn
Wilson and Debra Mills.
Bjorn Fahlstrom: The co-pilot, 30, was born in Kalmar, Sweden,
and had been pro tennis player. He had been flying corporate jets for about 1½ years. His fiancee, Jacqueline Oda, lives in Oklahoma City.
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"It took a toll on him."
Reserve players Dan Lawson and Nate Fleming died when the
Beechcraft King Air 200 went down in a field 40 miles east of
Denver. The crash also killed the team's play-by-play announcer,
its sports information director, a radio engineer, two managers,
the team's administrative assistant and the two pilots.
Officials did schedule a memorial service for 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday
at Gallagher-Iba Arena as a "special time of prayer and a time of
thanks, and an uplifting event," Buzzard told reporters Sunday
afternoon at a news conference.
The school's game at Texas Tech on Tuesday night was postponed
indefinitely. Buzzard said that the team will play its scheduled game against Missouri at home Saturday, but did not say when the Cowboys would resume practice. The OSU women's game against Baylor on Wednesday will go on as scheduled.
Buzzard also responded to questions about aircraft, including
who provided them.
"All three aircraft that were used on the trip were private and
they were provided to the university by the alumni and
businessmen," Buzzard said. The plane that crashed was provided by
Dick Bogert of Oklahoma City, he said.
Buzzard added that the team would fly again. The Cowboys' next away game is against Feb. 6 against Nebraska. He also said he had heard no talk of perhaps cancelling the rest of the season.
Many conferences and Big 12 schools are having a moment of silence in honor
of the tragedy prior to games. Included were the Sunday Big 12 contests
between Iowa State and Texas A&M in men's basketball and the Texas Tech at
Oklahoma women's contest.
On campus, when students would normally be getting ready to
hollar at a television during the Super Bowl, the mood was gloomy
and subdued. Many of them awoke to have the tragedy of the night
before hit them again.
Students holding unbrellas trudged through puddles on campus,
still trying not to believe. At Eskimo Joes, a usually rowdy
off-campus hangout, a student tried not to cry as she seated the
few customers who came in this slow Sunday morning. And in a bagel
shop, the usual crowd of cutomers wasn't laughing.
"Everyone is pretty melancholy," said freshman Chris Shumake.
"They're just walking around like zombies, sort of. You hear of
airplane crashes like in Europe and over seas, but you never think
of it hitting home."
Justin Battista, a freshman walking in the rain toward Sunday
morning Mass, said many students were still in shock.
"It's like part of the school died," he said.
The university made counselors available to the players staff
members.
A three-person team from Oklahoma State left for Colorado on
Sunday to work with local authorities and assist family members,
Buzzard said. The group included university vice president David
Bosserman, a member of the Oklahoma State University police
department, and Carter Mattson, special assistant to Phillips.
Buzzard said he expected the players, who left Sutton's office
stunned in in some cases crying Saturday night, would spend the day
secluded.
"I would be remiss to tell you I know what they're doing today
because it's a private time," he said. "They were together last
night for most of the night and I would guess they'd be together
today."
Buzzard said Sunday was in some respects more difficult than
Saturday night because more relatives of the victims were arriving
in town.
"Now you're starting to see families and family members come in
and you see the hurt in their eyes and on their faces. That's very
difficult," he said.
"This is a great loss. You just pour your hearts and your
prayers to those family members who have lost people that are so
important to them and to us."
Dirato, who does color commentary on the radio broadcasts,
considered himself fortunate because he originally was supposed to
return from Colorado on the plane that went down. He had flown from
Stillwater on the plane, but said Sutton noticed he was hobbled by
a bad back and set it up for Dirato to fly home on one of the two
small jets the team used.
When his plane arrived in Stillwater on Saturday night, Dirato
said the pilot told them that the KingAire had to make a stop
because of mechanical problems.
"Eddie said, 'Aren't you glad you were on this one?' " Dirato
said. "Then I just got in the car and went home."
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ALSO SEE
Chartered aircraft fact of life in Big 12
OSU's Sutton: 'I know God will help me through this'
Oklahoma State-Baylor women's game postponed to Thursday
NTSB: No evidence of engine failure in fatal crash
Two players among 10 killed in crash of Oklahoma State plane
Private planes donated for use by Oklahoma State
Last-minute change saves broadcaster from doomed plane
Reaction from around the Big 12
AUDIO VIDEO
 Steve Cyphers reports from Stillwater Okla.
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
ESPN's Brad Daugherty reports on why many colleges and universities use more than smaller aircraft to transport their athletic teams to games.
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ESPN's Steve Cyphers takes a close look at the Oklahoma State plane crash tragedy.
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
OSU associate athletic director Steve Buzzard talks about the toll the tragedy has taken on coach Eddie Sutton.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Eddie Sutton comments on having to speak with the families of the plane crash victims. (Courtesy Cowboys Sports Properties/Learfield Communications)
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
OSU basketball color commentator Tom Dirato talks about a night in which Eddie Sutton spent meeting with his grieving players.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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