Illinois State Assistant Basketball Coach, Assistant AD Killed in Plane Crash

Illinois State University is mourning the loss of associate men's basketball head coach Torrey Ward and deputy director of athletics Aaron Leetch following a plane crash just outside Bloomington, Illinois, late Monday evening.      

According to an official release from Illinois State president Larry Dietz, Ward and Leetch were among a group of seven people killed in the accident:

"

Although the McLean County Coroner has not made official confirmation, the Illinois State University community is deeply saddened by the loss of two members of the Athletics department staff. Aaron Leetch and Torrey Ward were among seven people who died when the plane they were travelling in crashed near Bloomington. Both men were well-respected and much-loved colleagues in our Athletics department. I join with the Redbird Athletics family and the entire campus in mourning the loss of these two men and the others aboard. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.

"

Per Alexandra Chachkevitch and Patrick M. O'Connell of the Chicago Tribune, Ward and Leetch were traveling back after seeing Monday night's NCAA championship game in Indianapolis between the Duke Blue Devils and Wisconsin Badgers. 

Ward has been on the Illinois State coaching staff since 2012, originally starting as an assistant before being promoted to associate head coach prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.     

Ward played three seasons at UAB from 1997-2000, averaging 8.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He played one NCAA tournament game in 1999, a 77-64 loss against No. 5 seed Iowa, before his college playing career came to a close one year later. 

Leetch has spent the last two years as Illinois State's deputy director of athletics, returning to the program he worked at from 2005-11. He worked directly with the school's athletic director, Larry Lyons, to build a basketball program that won 22 games this year and a football program that advanced to the FCS championship game in the 2014 season. 

Career information for Ward and Leetch from the Illinois State Athletics website.