Illinois State – One Year After Tragedy

(Normal, IL) – When the 2014-15 Illinois State basketball season ended, the Redbirds were poised to be Wichita State’s top challenger. As a team on the rise, with head coach Dan Muller’s first recruiting class maturing into a well blended unit, 2015-16 looked like the team that could stand up to the mighty Shockers.

Then tragedy struck.

Final Four weekend 2015 changed the ISU basketball family forever. Deputy  Athletic Director Aaron Leetch and assistant basketball coach Torrey Ward and five other ISU backers were in a tragic airplane crash miles from Central Illinois Regional Airport.

While reeling from that devastating personal loss, the Redbirds were dealt a surprising loss when shot blocking sophomore Reggie Lynch transferred to Minnesota.

Those losses were long forgotten by people outside the program when November rolled around and a difficult schedule awaited the now short-handed and emotionally wounded Redbirds. A schedule that included Maryland, Kentucky, TCU and San Diego State, was made doubly difficult for a team lacking their previous rim protector and the assistant coach that had woven his way into the hearts of the staff members and players.

Muller says the season had its ups and downs, but the season was an overall success. He goes on to say the plane crash was the worst day of his life and the ensuing weeks were some of the most difficult he has ever faced.

 

 

Ward was Muller’s most trusted aid and they were extremely close friends. He remains close with Ward’s widow Audrey still today.

One year removed from last Spring’s tragedy, the Redbirds are attempting to move forward with a fresh group of recruits. Muller’s new sign-ees will blend well with his collection of long, athletic and versatile returning players. Transfers D. J. Clayton and Phil Fayne II are particularly important veteran presences amongst this year’s recruits.

 

 

After a year of turmoil, loss and pain, the Redbirds are on the mend. While Muller and the ISU basketball family will never forget Coach Ward, they are continuing to build the program and hoping to honor his memory.

Illinois State did manage to upset Wichita State last season, and Muller believes his four returning starters Paris Lee, MiKyle McIntosh, Devontae Hawkins and Tony Wills can all be ‘all-conference’ type players. The Redbirds could finally be poised for that run at Wichita State after all.

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