ANDREWS COUNTY – According to KAMC TV in Lubbock, the University of the Southwest in Hobbs president says 9 people from their men’s and women’s golf team were on a team van leaving a competition in Midland when they were involved in a deadly head-on crash in Andrews. Seven people died and two others were life-flighted to UMC in Lubbock. They are in critical condition. Golf Coach Tyler James was one of the fatalities.
According to the Official Athletics Website of the University of the Southwest Mustangs:
Coach James spent time as the Coach of the Men’s program at Brownwood High school where they had 2 team wins and 4 individual victories in his time there. He also spent time as the assistant coach for the Men’s and Women’s golf team at Howard Payne University where he oversaw recruiting, tournament day preparations, and day-to-day practice planning. For the last two years, James was a Graduate Assistant Coach for the Men’s and Women’s golf team at East Texas Baptist University. At ETBU he assisted in helping the Tigers reach as high as 7th in the nation on the Men’s side and 3rd in the nation on the Women’s side. At ETBU on the Men’s side, he helped coached one individual champion, 1 1st team all-conference player, 1 2nd team all-conference player, and 2 honorable mention players. On the Women’s side, they had 4 tournament victories in the two years he spent there and one individual champion.
James started his collegiate playing career at Ottawa University where he was a part of 3 team wins and had 5 top 10 finishes personally. He finished his playing career and graduated at Howard Payne University where he collected 3 top 10 finishes. He received a Bachelor of Science in Education from Howard Payne University and received a Master’s of Science in Kinesiology from East Texas Baptist University. James was listed as a senior on the 2017-2018 Men’s Golf roster at Howard Payne University. His hometown is Killeen, Texas. James was in his first season as the head coach of the Men’s and Women’s Golf program at USW.
The University of the Southwest shared the following Wednesday morning on their Facebook page:
The USW campus community is shocked and saddened today as we mourn the loss of members of our university family. Last night, the men’s and women’s golf teams were traveling back to campus from competition in Midland, Texas, when their bus was struck by oncoming traffic. Nine passengers, including the coach, were on the university bus involved in the fatal accident. While the accident investigation is still underway, reports indicate that seven passengers aboard the bus were killed in the crash. Two of the passengers are in critical condition undergoing medical treatment in Lubbock, Texas. USW is coordinating with Texas DPS to assist with the investigation and public information efforts. University administration is communicating with families of the students and coaching staff to provide more information as it becomes available.