Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Overcome Odds To Get NCAA Bid
March 11, 2001 | Cowboy Basketball
March 11, 2001
By OWEN CANFIELD
AP Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton had no problem being one of the last teams invited to the NCAA tournament. After this season, he was just glad to be asked.
The Cowboys, who had to deal with a January plane crash that killed 10 members of their traveling party including two players, were made the 11th seed Sunday in the East regional. They will play No. 6 seed Southern California on Thursday at Uniondale, N.Y.
Oklahoma State (20-9) and Xavier, the 11th in the Midwest, are the lowest-seeded at-large teams in the tournament, which means they were among the final teams penciled in by the tournament selection committee.
"It doesn't make any difference as long as we make the big dance," Sutton said. "I was really thrilled and so happy for our team. It means so much to them after what they've been through. I think they've been very courageous to get their team to this point."
On Jan. 27, one of three small planes carrying the team back from a game at Colorado crashed near Denver. Reserve players Dan Lawson and Nate Fleming were killed, along with six others associated with the program and the two pilots.
The Cowboys lost three of five games after the crash, leaving them with a 15-6 record. They then won four in a row to get to 19 victories, and after losing at Oklahoma in the regular-season finale, won their opening game at the Big 12 tournament.
"Most people felt like this would be a rebuilding year, with only three players coming back from that Elite Eight team of a year ago," Sutton said. "After the accident, a great many people probably felt like we might go into a nosedive, and these guys didn't do that.
"It's certainly not one of the best teams we've ever taken into the NCAA tournament, but it's one that I'm quite proud of because of the things that have happened."
The NCAA berth is the ninth in Sutton's 11 years at Oklahoma State and the 22nd in his 31 years of Division I coaching.
