I first learned of the death of Todd Bachman on Saturday morning in an e-mail from USA Volleyball. The father-in-law of U.S. men's head coach Hugh McCutcheon, Bachman was stabbed to death in Beijing while attending the Olympics.

My first thought was "How tragic." And as I searched out other news sources on the Web, that feeling only grew. It became apparent this was a random and truly senseless act.

A day later, it struck me that a member of the Illini volleyball staff just might know McCutcheon. Assistant coach Kevin Hambly served in the same role for USA Volleyball for four years, including during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Turns out Hambly not only knows McCutcheon, but is a former collegiate teammate of the U.S. coach and counts McCutcheon among his best friends.

We can only imagine the flood of conflicting emotions Hambly has felt during the past week. He and wife Mary became parents for a second time on  Aug. 5, but that joyous occasion was followed by the grim news from Beijing .