In December of 1977, a DC-3 airplane carrying the Aces to a game in Tennessee crashed shortly after taking off in rain and dense fog. Pieces of the airplane, bodies and purple gym bags were strewn on a muddy hillside.
All 29 people on board were killed, including 14 players, head coach Bobby Watson, two trainers, a well-known local broadcaster, UE athletic staff and fans, two employees of the charter plane company and three flight crew members.
Head coach Bobby Watson was the only coach on board the flight as his assistant coaches were on scouting assignments at the time. Athletic director Jim Byers had planned to board the plane but stayed behind to interview a candidate for the baseball program. Four of the passengers were still breathing when found by rescuers, with three dying on the scene and one dying hours after the accident. The only member of the Purple Aces who did not die in the crash was 18-year-old freshman David Furr; he was out for the season with an ankle injury and thus was not on the plane that day. Two weeks after the crash, Furr and his younger brother Byron were killed in a car accident near Newton, Illinois, leaving the entire 1977 Evansville team dead. After consideration, the rest of the season was cancelled.
A memorial has been constructed at the University of Evansville known as the "Weeping Basketball." On stone slabs are engraved the names of the players who were killed, including Furr (the final name on the monument is that of Charles Goad of the Goad Equipment Company, invited on the flight by his friend Bob Hudson). Also engraved is an excerpt from the eulogy delivered by school president Wallace Graves at a memorial service: "Out of the agony of this hour we will rise."
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Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
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