STILLWATER — Soon after the speeding gray Hyundai Elantra crashed through barriers and into the crowd celebrating Oklahoma State's 2015 homecoming parade, news of the tragedy made its way to The Atherton Hotel, where the Cowboys football team prepared for its walk to Boone Pickens Stadium.
Amid the shock came word of the worst: injuries, even deaths.
As OSU moves toward Homecoming 2016, which arrives Saturday, just five days after the anniversary of last year's incident, reflections are inevitable. For the Cowboys team, sequestered as always before home games at the hotel, there was a period of anxiety and uncertainty.