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Clemson AD's heart with Cowboys in Final Four
By
The Associated Press
Terry Don Phillips won't ever forget the tragic night in 2001 when a plane
crash killed 10 people traveling with the Oklahoma State basketball team.
But the former Cowboys athletic director said this week he'll also never
forget watching Oklahoma State and longtime coach Eddie Sutton cut down the
nets Saturday on the way to the Final Four.
"It's absolutely tremendous," said Phillips, who left Oklahoma State for
Clemson in June 2002. "What's great about those youngsters is they're good
quality young men, they're good people who represent the school the way you
want them to."
Phillips was at the helm of Oklahoma State's sports department during some
of its darkest days.
He said Monday that he had considered making the flight to Colorado on Jan.
27, 2001. Instead, he watched the game on television, then went about his
business until he got a call early that morning that a private plane
carrying the 10 men could not be located.
Word soon came of the crash in a field near Strasburg, Colo. Both pilots,
two players and six others associated with the university were killed.
Phillips recalls the painful hours and days, meeting with family members and
the string of funerals, memorials and services for those lost in the
wreckage.
Then came the follow-up investigations, the plans for a permanent memorial
and the daily questions that followed the basketball program.
"The first year after the tragedy," Phillips said. "it consumes every bit of
your being, every bit of your time, and everything you thought was important
had to be put on the back burner."
Still, the Cowboys couldn't have been in more solid hands than Sutton's,
Phillips said.
Early on, Sutton showed the campus community the grief he felt while keeping
the team as focused as it could on basketball. "You just can't say enough
about Eddie. The way he handled it and continues to handle it," Phillips
paused. "The program remained strong."
A season after the crash, Oklahoma State dedicated a permanent memorial of a
cowboy, kneeling in remembrance, at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Likenesses of each
victim are on a black granite wall as part of the display.
That March, the team also returned to the NCAA tournament, losing an opening
round game at Greenville, SC's Bi-Lo Center. Two years later, the Cowboys
made it the Final Four for the first time in nine years.
"From a sentimental standpoint, who would be disappointed if Eddie Sutton
won a national championship?" South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "You'd
have to be elated for that."
In the wake of the crash, Phillips and Oklahoma State instituted travel
guidelines that prevented the team from traveling in donor planes, giving a
coach discretion to cancel flights in bad weather and hiring an outside
aeronautics consultant to evaluate aircraft maintenance and pilot
qualifications.
Phillips put the same rules in when he came to Clemson. "For the most part,
it runs a very close parallel to what we developed at Oklahoma State," he
said.
Phillips confessed he subscribes to a TV plan that allows him to watch
Oklahoma State sporting events. He had hoped to talk with Sutton and the
team in San Antonio this week, but had earlier committed his tickets to
Clemson senior associate athletic director Bill D'Andrea, "so I'll watch
from home."
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Phillips said he's proud that Duke and Georgia Tech, two teams from
Clemson's own Atlantic Coast Conference, reached the Final Four. "But I know
where my heart is in who will ultimately win it," he said.
Copyright 2004
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 11:03:02 AM
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