Sherri Coale shares her memories of Kurt Budke
Published: 11/18/2011 3:12 PM
Last Modified: 11/18/2011 3:12 PM
Before leaving with her team for Saturday's game against New Mexico, Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale sat inside the Lloyd Noble Center and shared memories of late OSU coaches Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna...
"Obviously a very tragic day and something that has shocked and saddened us all. It was sort of a surreal morning for all of us, from the standpoint of what Kurt and Miranda did is what we all do. You coach your kids, you go jump on a plane, you go see a kid play, and you're back in bed that night. It makes you stop and think, obviously, about what we do and why we do it, how important it is and yet how unimportant it is simultaneously.
"I had such great respect for Kurt. I can tell ya, he put the fun back in the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry. He wore that neon jacket and we'd meet at halfcourt. I would try to get something funny in, and he'd beat me to it every time. He'd bust on himself before I could even say anything. That self-deprecating humor made it impossible to not like him.
"About a month ago, we sat in the same high school gym recruiting a kid. We talked ball. We talked about how tough players are worth their weight in gold, and how bad shooters are always open. We talked about conference realignment, and how proud we were that our institutions were in lockstep, navigating through this together. Mostly what we did, we talked about how cool it is to watch your own kids play sports. His son had competed against my son in basketball scrimmages. His son was a freshman at St. Greg's.
"When Kurt talked about his kids, as much as he loved ball, when he talked about his kids, he had a different look in his eye. That's truly what he was about. He was a devoted husband. He was a father.
"I was thinking this morning as I drove, we have a tendency sometimes to make people bigger than they are when a tragedy arises. And I just was thinking I was driving that would be impossible. Because at the end of the day, what Kurt Budke was was a really great guy. And I don't know how many of those there are out there. I really don't. That, I think, will be his legacy, what a good human being he was.
"Miranda... A tireless worker, a tireless recruiter. The two of them together really changed the landscape for Oklahoma State women's basketball because of their recruiting efforts.
"Our thoughts and prayers to the families of the pilots as well. And to the Oklahoma State basketball family. Those kids who are playing there right now that he coached yesterday will have to go on and figure out how to play from here on out. And to that staff. But also to those kids who came before, the hundreds of JUCO kids he coached. And those kids he coached at Oklahoma State since his arrival. Those are all a part of his family. Our basketball family sends our thoughts and prayers to them all...
"Coaching is a unique fraternity. You share experiences that people that aren't in the profession can't possibly understand. When you find real friends in the business, people that you can be honest with and you want to sit by in a summer gym, people you want to sit by and drink a Coke next to during a game, you can't yourself as very, very fortunate to find those people. Kurt was certainly one of those. If we were on the road in the middle of the summer in Atlanta, Georgia, and we're both in the same gym, we were going to go sit by each other, eat popcorn and watch kids play...
"We will obviously have a tribute to them. We will have black bands on our jerseys when we play. And we will do a season-long tribute and a Bedlam tribute. Those things are still in the planning stages at this time...
"We appeal to the fact that while we compete against that team and it is a huge rivalry for us, we know what that atmosphere must be like. They're like us. It's a sister program, and how must they be feeling, and in what ways can we reach out to them. Many of our players know many of them and knew them before we were at our respective institutions. We take care of those immediate needs first, and then we move into a common theme in our locker room, which is common in any state. Be thankful for what you have every day, that opportunities that exist in our lives, how we need to seize those...
"We have a captains meeting every Friday morning. I sat with the captains when the news was really fresh. It was hard. It was really hard. They know those kids. Immediately they put themselves in that position. What if that had happened here to us, to our family? I have a great group of young women who are very compassionate and articulate. And they will reach out and they will continue to be there for those players at Oklahoma State, and will support them as we will support their staff in any way we possibly can...
"Kurt won, like, a million games at Trinity Valley Junior College before he ever showed up on the campus at Oklahoma State University. He had a stint at Louisiana Tech. One of the things I remember from recruiting when he was coaching at Trinity Valley was he was in the national championship every year, and I just knew the guy that wore the tux. He wore a tux and a boutonniere. What is going on here? And then his team would come out and just steamroll people. I mean, have 'em down 40, and it's the national junior college championship. So then he rolls into Oklahoma State and I'm like, Uh-oh, I know what these games are going to be like. Ch-ch-ch-ch (makes back-and-forth motion with hand). And they were, y'know? He recruited guys who could run and get up and down the floor, and they played with his signature style. As I said, he put the fun back in the rivalry...
"He never took himself too seriously, I think maybe at the end of the day, but he was competitive as the day is long. I can see clearly out here on this arena floor the night we made 17 threes against him. On the 13th one, he looks down like, 'What in the world?' I looked back at him and said, 'I have no idea.' And we both just laughed. We talked about that game in a gym this summer, about how crazy it is your team can roll out one night and make 17 3s. And in true Kurt Budke style, he said, 'And you would have to do it against us.'"
Coale was asked when she heard the news.
"I found out fairly early this morning," she said, "and went to my knees."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
