In early April the Illinois State athletic department was hit hard by tragedy, with a plane crash claiming the lives of seven people including two who worked for the school who were returning to the area from the Final Four.
Men’s basketball associate head coach Torrey Ward, deputy director of athletics Aaron Leetch, pilot Thomas Hileman, Scott Bittner, Terry Stralow, Andy Butler and Woodrow “Jason” Jones lost their lives in the plane crash a couple hours northeast of the regional airport in Bloomington, Illinois where the small plane was supposed to land. Saturday the school honored these seven men in a private ceremony.