Two Oklahoma State women’s basketball coaches were among four people killed when a plane crashed in Arkansas Thursday night.
The head coach, Kurt Budke, 50, and assistant coach Miranda Serna, 36, were on a recruiting trip when the accident happened.
The pilot, former Arkansas state Sen. Olin Branstetter, 82, and his wife Paula were also killed in the crash, which took place about 45 miles from Little Rock, according to The New York Times. They were both OSU alums and school supporters, according to a statement from the school.
The four were flying in a single-engine Piper, and the cause of the accident hasn’t been determined. The Times pointed out that Thursday’s crash happened 10 years after a tragic plane crash that killed two Oklahoma State men’s basketball players and eight other people near Denver. The players were coming home from a game at the University of Colorado at Boulder when the accident took place on Jan. 27, 2001.
Oklahoma State will hold a memorial service on Monday at 1 p.m. to honor the lives of Budke, Serna and the Branstetters.
Monday classes held between 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. are being canceled in order for the university community to attend the memorial service.
The Times credited Budke with transforming “women’s basketball at O.S.A. from an afterthought in the poweerful Big 12 Conference in6o a program that reachd the N.C.A.A. tournament in three of the past five years.”
“The Oklahoma State family is devastated by this tragedy,” OSU President Burns Hargis said in a prepared statement. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of Kurt Budke, Miranda Serna and the other victims. Kurt was an exemplary leader and a man of character who had profound impact on his student-athletes,”
Hargis said, “He was an outstanding coach and a wonderful person. We send our deepest sympathies to his wife, Shelley, and their children, Sara, Alex and Brett. Coach Budke elevated our women’s basketball program to new levels of success. He and his staff raised our profile in the nation’s toughest conference.”
As for Serna, Hargis said, “Miranda was an up-and-coming coach and an outstanding role model for our young ladies.”
Of the Branstetters, Hargis said, “We also extend our thoughts and prayers to the Branstetter family, which has a long legacy of support to OSU.”
Jim Littell, associate head coach, would assume duties as interim head coach. The university announced the Cowgirls will not play games scheduled for today and Sunday. OSU counselors and athletic staff are offering assistance to the Cowgirl student-athletes and staff.