I can’t believe the people in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame did not include Eddie Sutton once again into the Hall of Fame. It is absolutely ludicrous. I have no idea what criterion was given. Eddie Sutton garnered 804 division one career wins at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, O State and finally at San Francisco on an interim basis. Only Kentucky was a blueblood. Most of those wins came at places like Omaha, Fayetville and Stillwater. Not exactly the prime choice locations to cobble an iconic basketball coaching career.
Coach Sutton took Arkansas to the 1978 Final Four with the historic Tripletts of Ronnie Brewer, Sidney Moncrief and Marvin Delph.
He led Kentucky to an Elite 8 once during his four year reign at Lexington before being let go after being implicated in an NCAA investigation which landed the Wildcats on NCAA probation and one step away from the death penalty.
But with the assistance of former O State coaching legend Henry Iba—Sutton returned to his alma mater in Stillwater and restored a dormant program to glory and elite national recognition from 1990-2006.
Twice…Sutton led the Cowboys to the Final Four. Once in 1994 with the Big Country/Randy Rutherford team and then a decade later with the Graham Twins, Tony Allen, Ivan McFarland and John Lucas. Tell what that says when an OU fan remembers the starting five of an Oklahoma State team?
His teams played hard on both ends of the floor. If you couldn’t defend, you didn’t play for Eddie Sutton. Yet his style morphed as the game changed with the advent of the three point shot and a faster paced game. Coach Sutton could adapt his style of coaching to the talent he had available on a given roster any year.
Coach Sutton is one of only eight division one coaches in the history of college ball who have garnered 800 or more wins.
Former Oklahoma City University iconic coach Abe Lemons once told me during a chance conversation that Eddie Sutton was the meanest son of a bitch he ever coached against. Coach Lemons then told me with a warm smile that… “If he had a son and wanted him to learn the game the right way–he’d send him to that son of a bitch Eddie Sutton.”
Years later at a Thunder game, my son and I found ourselves sitting next to Eddie, his wife Patsy, and several of his grandchildren. I told Coach Sutton what Abe Lemons said about sending his son to play for him and the grin it put on Eddie Sutton’s face was priceless. I’ll never forget the experience of getting to talk to Coach Sutton. He was a great guy to talk hoops with and he never once acted like he was a big deal. He was very down to earth.
I’m sad Eddie Sutton wasn’t inducted in the Hall of Fame this week even though Jerry Tarkanian and John Calipari are already in the Hall with some marks on their resume which didn’t count them out. But evidently Coach Sutton can’t be forgiven by the committee as far as his transgressions at Kentucky. It would have been nice for the Sutton family to share this experience with their father given son Sean is an assistant coach for Chris Beard at Texas Tech and Final Four bound.
I think it’s s a disgrace is what I think. How is it forgiveness is allowed to some, but not to all? How is it our souls have become this hardened to not look for the best in others with an allowance for redemption and a second chance to right a bad choice earlier in life?
Eddie Sutton is in my Hall of Fame on the first ballot and I know for a fact my opinion is the majority one in the world of college hoops.