Providence ladies’s basketball mourns passing of former participant Katelyn Heideman

GREAT FALLS — Hearts are heavy within the Providence ladies’s basketball program. On Jan. 2, former Argos participant Katelyn Heideman was concerned in a helicopter crash in Arizona, taking her life and people of of three others.

Heideman, a local of Hermiston, Ore., performed for Providence between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons.

On Tuesday, MTN Sports talked with UP coach Bill Himmelberg on the McLaughlin Center concerning the magnitude of the state of affairs, and what Heideman, 22, meant not simply to this system, however the college as a complete.

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Providence ladies’s basketball coach Bill Himmelberg displays on passing of former participant Katelyn Heideman

“Just devastation. Never lost a player before,” Himmelberg stated. “Kate was such a great person and her smile was contagious along with her spirit. She’s a big part of our team and a big part of the university.”

When the information broke, the Argos have been getting ready for a highway contest at Mayville State.

“We were actually in the warm-up lines,” Himmelberg stated. “Two of our girls got a call and we heard a rumor that said, you know, Kate might have passed away in a helicopter crash.”

Himmelberg added that Heideman was a improbable teammate.

“Her cheering on the bench and the energy she brought was unparalleled with anyone else,” Himmelberg stated. “She was right there in the middle of everything, making sure we were going to get stuff done when somebody needed encouragement. She was there. When somebody needed some help, she was always there.”

Heideman was somebody who made others round her joyous, Himmelberg stated.

“Her smile was so big and her heart was so big and she was so fun to be around and we had so much fun together,” Himmelberg stated. “She wasn’t afraid to make fun of me and crack a joke with our girls or make fun of other things, and on the bench, you know, she’s the first one to make a lighthearted comment and get us going and make sure our team all kind of stayed together.”

Heideman did an excellent deal off the court docket on the college, as nicely.

“She was a resident assistant, so she touched other students here at the university,” Himmelberg stated. “She worked at the faculty offices as an assistant at their desk also, so it touched a lot of professors.

“This is a wide-ranging factor that is going to influence the college, Great Falls, reaching all through the northwest the place all of these gamers are from.”

But Heideman’s legacy will always live on, Himmelberg said.

“Kate will all the time be a chunk in every of their hearts and he or she’s by no means going to not be part of our program and what this program has achieved,” Himmelberg said. “She’s all the time going to be part of the college and part of every one of many gamers and every one of many individuals she touched.

“We love Katelyn, we love her family. Just praying for their family and for her mom and dad and her sister who we all know really well and love. The girls all feel for them, and just praying that during this tough time that they’re okay.”

Himmelberg stated the crew hopes to honor Heideman by carrying a patch on their jerseys, and holding a remembrance on senior evening.