The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done

You will be hard-pressed to find any person better than
Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke.
Budke died in a plane crash on Thursday, leaving behind
a wife and three kids, along with a huge vacancy in the
hearts of many across the country.

In my career, I've covered a lot of events — from state championships to college sports. But fortunately I've never had to experience what I went through last Friday.

For those who may have missed it, Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash outside Perryville, Ark., during a recruiting trip. The news was devastating to the community of Stillwater — especially after Oklahoma State lost 10 members of the men's basketball team's traveling party in a plane crash in January 2001.

As a journalist I'm supposed to be impartial, but covering the press conference where Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis announced that Budke and Serna had been killed — along with Olin Branstetter and his wife Paula — was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my young career.

I remember the first time I met Kurt Budke. It was one of my first days in Stillwater, and I had gone to Gallagher-Iba Arena to pick up my media pass for the football season. I was wandering through Heritage Hall completely lost when I was approached by a man nearly my height — maybe even a little taller.

He greeted me with a smile and introduced himself as Kurt Budke, the women's basketball coach. From there, we talked as he showed me where the media relations office was.

That's the type of person Kurt Budke was. He treated every stranger like they were a close friend. It didn't matter who you were, he wanted to make sure you felt welcome at Oklahoma State.

I only met him one time after that. I covered the Cowgirls first regular season game against Rice. Shortly afterward, I spoke with him one-on-one about his career for a feature in our Stillwater Style magazine. That was last Sunday — and it proved to be one of the last interviews he ever gave.

He could have easily blown me off and gone back to his office. He didn't. Instead we talked for roughly 20 minutes about his life, his family and basketball. It may have been one of my favorite interviews of all time.

Coach Budke was a family man who also enjoyed going on recruiting trips. He treated his players and recruits like family. During games, his voice could be heard throughout Gallagher-Iba Arena. But he wasn't angry — he was excited.

I've seen a lot of coaches come and go in my young career. But I can categorically say that I never expect to come across another coach like Budke. He was one of a kind and when his plane crashed, "America's Brightest Orange" became a little bit darker.