Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

) and was a head coach at the high school, junior college, and college levels spanning six decades. After beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State under

Henry Iba Henry Payne “Hank” Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwes ...

, Sutton was a successful head coach at

Tulsa Central High School Central High School is the oldest high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1906 as Tulsa High School, and located in downtown Tulsa until 1976. The school now has a campus in northwest Tulsa. Tulsa Central is part of the Tulsa Publ ...

and the

College of Southern Idaho College of Southern Idaho (CSI) is a public community college in Twin Falls, Idaho. It also has off-campus programs in Jerome, Hailey, Burley and Gooding. Together with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Western Idaho and North Ida ...

. Sutton began coaching at the NCAA level in 1969 at

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

, followed by

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

from 1974 to 1985,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

from 1985 to 1989, and Oklahoma State from 1990 to 2006. For part of the 2007–08 season, Sutton was interim head coach at

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. During his college coaching career, Sutton is one of only eight NCAA Division I coaches to have had more than 800 career wins. From 1977 to 2005, Sutton's teams appeared in all but two NCAA Tournaments. Sutton was inducted into the

College Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the Nation ...

in 2011 and

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 2020.

Early life and education

Sutton was born in Bucklin, Kansas. After graduating from Bucklin High School in 1954, Sutton enrolled at what was then Oklahoma A&M College, which became

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

in 1957. At Oklahoma A&M/State, Sutton played at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the Cowboys basketball team from 1955 to 1958 under head coach

. In his junior season of 1956–57, Sutton led the Oklahoma A&M Cowboys in free throw percentage at .843. As a senior in 1957–58, Sutton averaged 8.3 points and was part of a team that qualified for the NCAA tournament. Sutton graduated from Oklahoma State with a bachelor's degree in 1958.

Coaching career

Early coaching career (1958–1969)

Sutton began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for Iba at Oklahoma State in the 1958–59 school year before completing his master's degree in 1959. From 1959 to 1966, Sutton was head varsity basketball coach at

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, where he had a cumulative record of 119–51. Moving up to the junior college level, Sutton became the first head coach at the

from 1966 to 1969, with a cumulative 83–14 record.

Creighton (1969–1974)

From 1969 to 1974, Sutton was head coach at

, where he inherited a Bluejays program that had three consecutive losing seasons and led them to five consecutive winning seasons, including a 23–7 record and NCAA tournament appearance in the 1973–74 season.

Arkansas (1974–1985)

In 1974, Sutton became head coach at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

. Inheriting an

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

program that had losing records in three of the last four seasons and no postseason appearances since 1958, Sutton compiled a record of 260-75 from 1974 to 1985, including five

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

regular season championships, nine NCAA Tournament appearances, and a Final Four appearance in 1978. His success led Arkansas to expand its home basketball venue, Barnhill Arena, from 5,200 seats to 9,000. Sutton also coached a trio of basketball players, all from the state of Arkansas, known as "The Triplets": Ron Brewer, Marvin Delph, and

Sidney Moncrief Sidney Alvin Moncrief (born September 21, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player. As an NCAA college basketball player from 1975 to 1979, Moncrief played for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, leading them to the 1978 F ...

. On February 12, 1984, Arkansas had a 65–64 upset win over an undefeated, no. 1 North Carolina team that featured

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

, Sam Perkins and Brad Daugherty. The game took place at the Pine Bluff Convention Center in

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff, officially the City of Pine Bluff, is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, tenth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, Jefferson County. The population of the city wa ...

, and

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

televised the game nationally. Arkansas finished the 1983–84 season with a 23–7 record and no. 8 AP Poll ranking. Number 2 seed Arkansas lost to number 7 seed

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

53–51 in overtime in the NCAA tournament. In Sutton's final season as head coach in 1984–85, Arkansas went 22–13 and qualified for the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Kentucky (1985–1989)

On April 2, 1985, the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

hired Sutton as head coach of the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

to replace Joe B. Hall. In a prepared statement, Hall said: "...with Eddie, I see nothing but great days ahead." He coached the Wildcats for four years, leading them to the Elite Eight of the 1986 NCAA tournament. Two seasons later, Sutton and the 25–5 Wildcats captured their 37th SEC title (which was later vacated by the SEC) and were ranked as the No. 6 college basketball team in the nation by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

before being upset as the No. 2 seed in the Southeast Regional by Villanova in the 1988 NCAA tournament. Sutton's tenure at Kentucky ended at the close of the 1988–89 season after a scandal and a losing record tarnished the school's basketball program. Kentucky entered the 1988–89 season lacking significant talent in their lineup. The previous season's offensive and defensive stars

Ed Davender Ed Davender (May 26, 1966 – April 28, 2016) was an American basketball player. He was a noted streetballer, and considered to be among the best New York shooting guards throughout his high school career. Initially Davender played at Alexander ...

, Rob Lock and Winston Bennett had all graduated from school, while All-SEC sophomore Rex Chapman left school early to enter the 1988 NBA draft. Additionally, sophomore standout Eric Manuel was suspected of cheating on his college entrance exam and voluntarily agreed to sit out until the investigation was finished. Potential star recruit

Shawn Kemp Shawn Travis Kemp Sr. (born November 26, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association ( ...

transferred out of Kentucky after signing with the school early that year. As it turned out, Manuel didn't play a single game as the investigation dragged through the entire season, essentially placing the Wildcats in the hands of inexperienced sophomore LeRon Ellis and freshman Chris Mills. The two underclassmen struggled to fill the talent vacuum on the court and the Wildcats finished with a losing record of 13–19, the team's first losing full-season record since 1927. The scandal broke when it was alleged that Emery Worldwide employees discovered $1,000 in cash in an envelope Kentucky assistant coach Dwane Casey supposedly sent to Mills' father.York, Michael
"Kentucky Loves Its Basketball, but Not at Any Price"
latimes.com, December 11, 1988. It was later shown that Casey was uninvolved in the Emery envelope incident. The NCAA announced at the end of the season that its investigation into the basketball program had found the school guilty of violating numerous NCAA policies. The NCAA deemed the violations so egregious that it seriously considered hitting the Wildcats with the "death penalty", which would have shut down the entire basketball program (as opposed to simply being banned from postseason play) for up to two years. Kentucky was eligible for this severe penalty because it was already on probation for failing to cooperate with an investigation into an extensive scheme of payments to recruits. By then, Sutton was already gone. In March, school president David Roselle told Sutton that he had lined up enough support on UK's athletics board to fire him unless he resigned. Rather than face all-but-certain termination, Sutton resigned. Athletic director

Cliff Hagan Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6′ 4″ forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li’l Abner", played his entire 10-year National Basketball Association, ...

resigned as well. The Wildcats were slapped with three years' probation, a two-year ban from postseason play and a ban from live television in 1989–90. Manuel was also banned from ever playing again for any NCAA member school.Kirkpatrick, Curry
"Dodging a Bullet"
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', May 29, 1989; accessed August 13, 2014.

Oklahoma State (1990–2006)

After a year away from the game, Sutton returned to his alma mater, Oklahoma State, on April 11, 1990. He inherited a program that had fallen on hard times. At the time of his hire, since joining (or rejoining, depending on the source) the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

in 1957, Oklahoma State appeared in only three NCAA Tournaments. Previous Oklahoma State head coach

Leonard Hamilton James Leonard Hamilton (born August 4, 1948) is an American former basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with ...

had also resigned to take the job at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. In his first season at Oklahoma State, Sutton led the Cowboys to a 24–8 record, Big Eight regular season title, and Sweet 16 appearance in the 1991 NCAA tournament. In the 1991–92 season, Oklahoma State improved to 28–8 and made it to a second straight Sweet 16, followed by two more NCAA Tournament appearances in 1993 and 1994. In Sutton's fifth season, the 1994–95 Oklahoma State team, led by

Bryant Reeves Bryant Reeves (born June 8, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Reeves spent his entire career with the National Basketball Association's Vancouver Grizzlies, playing with the team from 1995 until 2001. He was nicknamed " ...

(also known as "Big Country") and Randy Rutherford, won the Big Eight tournament and advanced to the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

for the first time since 1951. Following the season, ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...

'' sports columnist Berry Tramel observed: "Sutton is pleased that pride has returned to the court made famous by Iba." Reeves went on to be selected sixth overall in the 1995 NBA draft. Sutton continued to coach Oklahoma State following the school's move from the Big Eight to

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

in 1996. Oklahoma State's best season under Sutton was in 2003–04. With the roster including a significant number of transfers, Oklahoma State had a 31–4 overall record that tied the school record for overall wins in addition to gaining Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and the school's second

appearance under Sutton. The 2003–04 team included junior college transfer Tony Allen, who would go on to be the 25th overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft and a six-time All-Defensive honoree in the NBA. On January 15, 2005, the court at Oklahoma State's home arena, Gallagher-Iba Arena, was officially renamed Eddie Sutton Court. On February 10, 2006, Sutton was involved in a car accident in Stillwater. He was cited for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

. Witnesses said that Sutton fell and hit his head at the Gallagher-Iba Arena parking lot, and ''

'' reported that campus police officers and athletic department physicians helped Sutton into his university-provided Dodge Durango. After declining a police officer's offer for a ride or ambulance, Sutton hit another SUV from behind at 60 mph, resulting in minor injuries for the other driver. Following the accident, Sutton's blood alcohol level was measured at .22, nearly three times the legal limit of .08. Sutton announced on February 14 that he would take a medical leave of absence from the basketball team, citing his health problems and the accident as reasons. Assistant coach and son Sean Sutton served as acting head coach for the remainder of the season. The following day, in a prepared statement delivered over the phone at a press conference, Sutton admitted he had taken prescription medication due to back pain and "bought a bottle" of alcohol on the night of the accident. Sutton went on to say: "I have a problem with alcohol. That said, I make no excuses for what has happened. I recognize it and I will be seeking treatment for it. I know I have let many people down." Sutton eventually resigned as head coach May 19, 2006, succeeded by Sean Sutton. In 16 seasons, Sutton had a 368–151 record at Oklahoma State with 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, two regular season conference titles (Big Eight in 1991, Big 12 in 2004), and three conference tournament titles (Big Eight in 1995, Big 12 in 2004 and 2005).

San Francisco (2007–2008)

On December 26, 2007, Sutton came out of retirement to replace Jessie Evans as head coach at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

on an interim basis. On February 2, 2008, Sutton became the fifth NCAA Division I men's basketball coach to reach 800 career wins after San Francisco rallied from a 19-point second half deficit to defeat Pepperdine 85–82 in an away game. San Francisco concluded the season with an overall 10–21 record, including 6–13 under Sutton. Following the season, San Francisco hired

Rex Walters Rex Andrew Walters Sr. (born March 12, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously, he was the asso ...

as head coach.

Head coaching record

Junior college

Source:

College

Source: *Kentucky vacated the 1987–88 SEC regular season and tournament titles as well as its NCAA Tournament appearance after Eric Manuel was found to be academically ineligible. **Due to sanctions from recruiting violations, Sutton and his entire staff were forced to resign following the 1988–89 season. ''*** Includes wins that resulted from Texas Tech win forfeitures''

Personal life

Eddie Sutton was married to Patsy Wright from 1958 until her death in 2013. They had three children and six grandchildren. Two of Sutton's children would become college basketball coaches. Sean Sutton coached at Oklahoma State for 15 seasons, first as an assistant under his father from 1993 to 2006 then as head coach from 2006 to 2008, before serving as an assistant coach at

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...

from 2011 to 2017 and a special advisor to head coach

Chris Beard Christopher Michael Beard (born February 18, 1973) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's coach at University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss). He also previously served as head coach at Texas, Texas Tech, Little Rock, Angelo State, a ...

at Texas Tech since 2017. Scott Sutton played for Oklahoma State from 1992 to 1994, was head coach at Oral Roberts from 1999 to 2017, and has been an assistant coach at Oklahoma State since 2017. In his final years, Sutton lived in southern

. On May 23, 2020, Sutton died in Tulsa at age 84, after being in

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

care.

References

External links

Voices of Oklahoma interview with Eddie Sutton.
First person interview conducted on September 30, 2010, with Eddie Sutton. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Eddie 1936 births 2020 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Kansas Basketball players from Kansas College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Creighton Bluejays athletic directors Creighton Bluejays men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in Oklahoma Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees NCAA sanctions Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players People from Ford County, Kansas San Francisco Dons men's basketball coaches Southern Idaho Golden Eagles men's basketball coaches Basketball players from Tulsa, Oklahoma 20th-century American sportsmen