Torrey Ward

Torrey Ward (born July 7, 1978 in Greene County; died April 7, 2015 in Bloomington, Illinois) was a basketball coach and former player for the UAB Blazers basketball team.

Ward was raised by his mother, Janice. He was a star for coach Alvin Moore at Phillips High School, which was runner-up in the 1994 AHSAA 5-A state championship in his junior year. As a senior, he averaged 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He took seriously his responsibilities as a role model and served as a committed volunteer at the Center for Urban Missions.

Ward accepted a scholarship to play for Murry Bartow at UAB beginning in 1997. He was on the 1998-99 team that earned an at-large bid to the 1999 NCAA tournament. He graduated from UAB with a bachelor's degree in justice sciences in 2001.

After a brief professional career with the Shanghai Sharks and Shandong Da Ben (Flaming Bulls) of the Chinese Basketball Association, Ward served as a volunteer assistant at Jacksonville State University. He was hired as a full-time assistant after his first year. On April 21, 2006 he joined former Blazers player and assistant coach Andy Kennedy on the staff of the University of Mississippi Rebels men's basketball team. He left Ole Miss in 2012 to become an assistant for the Illinois State Redbirds, and was promoted to associate head coach in 2014.

Ward was one of seven on board a twin-engine Cessna 414 aircraft that crashed in foggy conditions near the Bloomington, Illinois airport following the 2015 NCAA tournament championship game in Indianapolis. All aboard died in the crash.

References

• Stackpole, Lisa (February 15, 2000) "Hometown Heroes: Phillips' Torrey Ward" UAB Kaleidoscope. Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 9-10
• Chachkevich, Alexandra and Patrick M. O'Connell (April 7, 2015) "7 killed in plane crash while returning from NCAA game." Chicago Tribune