Remember the Ten Tradition Remains Impactful 25 Years Later

STILLWATER — On Saturday Oklahoma State Remembers the Ten who lost their lives in a plane crash on Jan. 27, 2001.

Kendall Durfey
Bjorn Fahlstrom
Nate Fleming
Will Hancock
Daniel Lawson
Brian Luinstra
Denver Mills
Pat Noyes
Bill Teegins
Jared Weiberg

“Every time I hear about it touches me,” senior basketball player Kirk Cole said.

As the lone in-state player on the roster this year, Cole has heard the story plenty of times now, but the way it’s discussed and remembered with such passion, he can’t believe 25 years have passed.

Second-year Oklahoma State coach Steve Lutz knew how important this was to the program well before his first Remember the Ten game. On Thursday he recalled what stood out last season.

“The biggest thing is just how passionate people are about that terrible day, and not only the families of the people who were lost, but just the people in Stillwater, the people at Oklahoma State, specifically the athletics department,” Lutz said. “But then, you know, nobody can ever replace them, right. But what we can do is we can always remember them, and they’ll never be forgotten, and we can always honor them, and no one has stopped short in doing that.

“I think that every year we’ve continued to do it to the highest level that we can, and we’ve kind of tried to do more and more each year, and that’s what you do in situations like this. It’s a big testament to just how good of people we have around here, and how committed they are to never forgetting these ten.”

In the era of the transfer portal, rosters are fluid. The vast majority of Cowboys weren’t here last season. Lutz said getting to share the Ten’s story with so many new players is a positive.

“You’re just continuing to enlighten young people, right,” Lutz said. “And, you know, spread our story, and it’s, you know, a tragic story, but you know, we’ve turned it into something that’s very positive.”

As part of the tradition, Oklahoma State will play a relatively meaningful game, this time against No. 9 Iowa State. The Cowboys have won five straight and eight of the last nine Remember the Ten games.

“It does (feel different),” Cole said. “I think it brings a little bit of an edge to this game because I think a lot of those family members will come back. … It’s a must win game either way, but it does add a little extra layer to it.”