Jan. 26, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -For the first time since a 2001 plane crash killed 10 people associated with the Oklahoma State men's basketball program, the Cowboys and Cowgirls will play on the anniversary of the tragedy.

Oklahoma State will host a doubleheader Saturday in Stillwater. A women's game between the Cowgirls and No. 13 Baylor will be played in the afternoon, with the 13th-ranked Cowboys' game against Iowa State to follow in the evening.

Neither Oklahoma State squad has played a Jan. 27 game since the crash, which killed players Daniel Lawson and Nate Fleming, director of basketball operations Pat Noyes, publicist Will Hancock, trainer Brian Luinstra, manager Jared Weiberg, play-by-play announcer Bill Teegins, radio engineer Kendall Durfey and pilots Denver Mills and Bjorn Fahlstrom.

The plane had taken off outside Boulder, Colo., after the Cowboys had played Colorado. It crashed in a snowstorm a short time later about 40 miles from Denver in a pasture near Strasburg.

Part of the reason Oklahoma State hasn't played on a Jan. 27 since the crash is that that date never fell on a Saturday, when most college basketball teams schedule games.

The Big 12 Conference office in suburban Dallas determines the league schedule. Big 12 spokesman Bob Burda said Friday that Big 12 officials, including associate commissioner Tim Allen, discussed with Oklahoma State officials the possibility of a Jan. 27 game this season.

"OSU said it was comfortable playing on the 27th, provided they were able to play at home," Burda said.

Weiberg was the nephew of Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg.

Oklahoma State, after consulting with family members of the victims, decided not to hold a formal service Saturday at the site of a memorial to the men, which is located in the lobby of Gallagher-Iba Arena, OSU spokeswoman Carrie Hulsey-Greene said.

"A lot of the thinking is because we have a memorial that people pass by every day, that's a way for the university and everyone attached to the university to remember those people every day," Hulsey-Greene said.

A banner with the names of the 10 men, the date of the crash and the phrase "We Remember" hangs inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.