Oklahoma State Commemorates 6th Anniversary Of Plane Crash

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Every time he visits Gallagher-Iba Arena for an Oklahoma State basketball game, Jim Perry has a ritual. <br/><br/>As he enters and exits the arena, Perry stops at a memorial in

Saturday, January 27th 2007, 2:23 pm

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Every time he visits Gallagher-Iba Arena for an Oklahoma State basketball game, Jim Perry has a ritual.

As he enters and exits the arena, Perry stops at a memorial in the lobby to look at a photo of his nephew, Will Hancock, one of 10 men associated with the Cowboys' basketball program who died in a Jan. 27, 2001, plane crash in Colorado.

``I always make sure to share that time with Will,'' Perry said.

Before and after Oklahoma State games, it's not uncommon to see fans stop at the memorial and ponder. But Saturday's games _ the Cowgirls hosted Baylor in an afternoon contest before the Cowboys played Iowa State _ brought more than the usual number of visitors, as it was the first time either of Oklahoma State's teams had played on a Jan. 27 since the crash.

That is partly due to the calendar _ Jan. 27 hasn't fallen on a Saturday since 2001 _ but it's also because Big 12 Conference officials had not scheduled Oklahoma State to play on that date in the years after the crash.

Before scheduling the men's game Saturday, league officials broached the subject with Oklahoma State officials. The tragedy touched the Big 12 at the highest levels, as one of the crash victims, Jared Weiberg, was the nephew of league commissioner Kevin Weiberg.

``OSU said it was comfortable playing on the 27th, provided they were able to play at home,'' Big 12 spokesman Bob Burda said.

The crash occurred after the Cowboys had played at Colorado. The plane had taken off from the Jefferson County Airport outside Boulder, Colo., after the game and crashed in a snowstorm a short time later about 40 miles east of Denver in a pasture near the town of Strasburg.

Killed in the crash were players Daniel Lawson and Nate Fleming, director of basketball operations Pat Noyes, publicist Hancock, trainer Brian Luinstra, manager Weiberg, play-by-play announcer Bill Teegins, radio engineer Kendall Durfey and pilots Denver Mills and Bjorn Fahlstrom.

The university, as it has in recent years, chose to take a low-key approach to commemorating the crash anniversary. After consulting with victims' family members, Oklahoma State decided not to hold a formal memorial service.

But the university did open the memorial to the public on Friday and Saturday before the women's game against Baylor. More than two hours before that game, the memorial already was decorated in flowers _ a bouquet of orange flowers under the pictures of each of the men, along with four wreaths.

The message on a card on one of the wreaths read: ``Not a day goes by we don't think of you. We will always remember.'' Another wreath, placed under the picture of Fleming, included an orange and black ribbon with one word: ``Nate.''

The university planned to observe moments of silence to remember the victims at each game. Inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, a banner listing the names of the 10 men, the date of the crash and the phrase ``We Remember'' hangs from the rafters.

Perry said he had mixed emotions about a game being played on the date of the crash anniversary.

``I wasn't going to go to the game,'' Perry said. ``I've fought with it all week. But I decided that I should be there.''