Rhonda Fields reflects on Kurt Budke
Published: 11/21/2011 12:16 PM
Last Modified: 11/21/2011 12:16 PM
I ran into Jenks girls basketball coach Rhonda Fields in the memorial lobby of Gallagher-Iba Arena. Fields is the first female scholarship athlete in Oklahoma State history. She once played basketball for the Cowgirls.
Fields arrived early for a memorial service for four people who were killed in a plane crash last week. One of those who died was her friend, OSU women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke.
I asked Fields if she wanted to say anything kind about Budke.
She said that’s the only kind of thing she can say about Budke.
And this is what she said:
“Everyone knows the obvious. He is a successful coach that coaches at the Division I level and he has resurrected this program again.
“But, again, the things that people don’t think about are his wife, Shelley, and his daughter, Sara, and his two boys, Brett and Alex.
“He was my friend and I supported him here and he supported me (when I coached) at Stillwater High School and he supported me when I made the move to Jenks. We talked, not just about recruiting and things like that, but about basketball and life. Our kids knew each other.
“I think what people aren’t going to realize is this will end for a lot of people. But for a lot of people that really knew him, this is going to be an adjustment to living life without a man of his character, and that’s what the world needs a whole lot of.”
--Jimmie Tramel.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
