Antoine Broxsie remembers the 10
Published: 1/24/2011 9:25 AM
Last Modified: 1/24/2011 9:25 AM
The 10th anniversary of a plane crash that killed 10 men, including two Oklahoma State basketball players, is Thursday. The Cowboys continued the 2000-01 season after the plane crash and reached the NCAA Tournament.
The Tulsa World caught up with selected members of the team, including Antoine Broxsie, who participated in a question-and-answer session.
A 6-foot-10 forward, Broxsie transferred to OSU from Minnesota, playing two seasons at each school. He was a senior in 2002 and returned to his hometown of Tampa, Fla. He said he plays for Satria Muda BritAma, a professional basketball team in Jakarta, Indonesia.
What have you done with your life in the 10 years since the plane crash season?
“I have made a career out of playing this great game of basketball. I have played all over the world and been to places that I use to dream of. And for this I am very grateful.”
What significant events have occurred in your life since leaving OSU?
“Nothing really significant, only that I am alive and well.”
What’s the best or favorite story you have about one of the individuals who was lost in the plane crash?
“One of the favorite stories I have is of Dan (Lawson). I remember when we first came to OSU, we really didn’t have that much money, so what we did, we would always put our money together and instead of having five bucks each, we would have whatever we both had in our pocket and we would eat with that.”
How did you guys make it through the crash season and what difficulties did you encounter?
“We made it through because we were all very close. We were able to lean on each other and just that time we had on the court to get away helped us out a lot.”
After the crash, how difficult was it to get on a plane to go to the next road game at Nebraska?
“For me it wasn’t that difficult at all, because I have always understood that even though bad things may happen in your life, life continues to move on and you can either move with it or stay focused on the events from the past. So I found strength to move on and not forget, but just to move with life.”
In what way will you always feel a bond with the players on that particular team?
“Those guys are all like my brothers. I always think about them and keep up with them. I don’t have one day that I don’t think about at least one of them... But you have to understand, I felt like that with the whole community with and around OSU. So I have always looked at the school in whole as all my teammates.”
In what ways are you still affected by the tragedy of that season or does time really heal all wounds?
“I think from time to time about how good it would be just to talk with my friends again. I felt like a piece of me left when I lost those guys -- especially Dan, Nate (Fleming), Brian (Luinstra) and Pat (Noyes)! Around this time it gets kinda tough.”
--Jimmie Tramel.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
