Coming Sunday: ESPN, Tulsa World remember the 10
Published: 1/20/2011 2:27 PM
Last Modified: 1/20/2011 2:27 PM
On Jan. 27, 2001, 10 members of Oklahoma State's travel party were killed in a plane crash following a basketball game at Colorado.
The 10th anniversary of the tragedy is next week. Stories about the anniversary will appear in Sunday's Tulsa World and ESPN is scheduled to broadcast an "Outside the Lines" segment about the crash at 8 a.m. Sunday.
Here's a press release excerpt with information about ESPN's coverage:
Ten years ago, on January 27, 2001, a small airplane carrying 10 members of the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team, including two players, crashed 30 miles east of Denver. There were no survivors. Among the deceased was Nate Fleming, a walk-on point guard beloved by Oklahoma State fans. Fleming was a late addition to the passenger list of the fateful flight when head coach Eddie Sutton had him switch planes with Fleming’s cousin -- assistant coach Kyle Keller. Tom Friend has the remarkable story of tragedy.
Following the report, BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock, whose 31 year-old son was an Oklahoma State media relations staffer killed in the crash, and ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb, a Cowboy point guard who graduated the year before the crash, will discuss the tragedy.
“I saw every one of them looking at me through the window. And it’s not a great feeling to know I was the last person, in my mind, at least, to see them alive.” -- Kyle Keller, on having gone back to check on Nate Fleming’s plane – the one Keller was originally slated to be on
"When I first heard about the loss of those 10 guys, I can remember I had to go off to a room by myself just to try to regain my composure and wipe the tears from my eyes." -- Eddie Sutton, former Oklahoma State coach
“Do I know exactly why I wasn’t on the plane? No. God tells me every day. He shows me every day why I wasn’t on that plane. I got to make a difference in kids’ lives, I got to make a difference in my family’s life. I have to make a difference hopefully in the Flemings’ life, somehow, and everybody’s life that I am involved with every day.” -- Keller.
--Jimmie Tramel, World sports writer.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
