OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Eddie Sutton’s third bid for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ended like the first two, with the former Oklahoma State coach on the outside looking in.
Voting for this year’s group of 15 finalists was announced Monday morning in Atlanta, with Sutton and ESPN broadcaster Dick Vitale among the notables who did not receive the required 18 votes from the hall’s 24-member honors committee. Sutton also was a finalist in 2002 and 2003.
Among the seven who will be inducted in September is one of Sutton’s former Big 12 Conference rivals, Roy Williams. The North Carolina coach was at Kansas during much of Sutton’s 16-season tenure at Oklahoma State.
Sutton, who retired this past May, finished with a 798-315 record at the NCAA Division I level in 36 seasons at Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Arkansas and Creighton. He won 1,000 games when his high school and junior college coaching records are included in his career totals.
Only Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Jim Phelan have more career wins among NCAA men’s coaches, and all but Phelan are in the Hall of Fame. Sutton was the first coach to lead four different schools to the NCAA tournament, and he reached the Final Four three times, with Arkansas in 1978 and Oklahoma State in 1995 and 2004.
In February, Sutton said he was “not that optimistic” about his chances for induction.
“It’s an honor just to be nominated because there’s a lot of coaches that never get nominated,” Sutton said. “To get into the Hall of Fame is very difficult now for college coaches. You look at the last 25 years, there’s been very few get in.”
Sutton’s wife, Patsy, said Monday that he was en route to Stillwater from Atlanta and not immediately available for comment.
“I know a lot of people have worked awfully hard on a national level and want him in it,” she said of the Hall of Fame, “but nobody knows who votes on it.”
The secrecy of the voting process for the Hall of Fame drew criticism in recent weeks from Knight, the Texas Tech coach, who organized a letter-writing campaign for Vitale’s candidacy that included famous basketball names.
Knight said during the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City last month he was irritated that Hall of Fame voters would not be able to read the letters.
“I think that’s a screwy way to handle things because let’s say we got a coach that coached 30 years ago,” Knight said. “Hell, the only guy in America that will remember that guy is me. And if they don’t listen to me, how the hell is he going to get in the Hall of Fame?”
After his previous two bids for the Hall of Fame were denied, Sutton theorized that a scandal in 1989 that resulted in NCAA sanctions and ended his tenure at Kentucky was the reason voters didn’t select him.
Sutton’s retirement at Oklahoma State came a little more than three months after he took a medical leave following a Feb. 10, 2006, accident that resulted in charges of aggravated DUI, speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road.
He pleaded no contest to the charges this past May, received a one-year deferred sentence and was ordered to pay a fine.
Since his retirement, Sutton has worked to establish a new alcohol education and support program at the university.
“This probably wasn’t a good year for him to be nominated,” Patsy Sutton said.
Sean Sutton, Eddie Sutton’s son and Oklahoma State coach, did not immediately return a phone message left Monday with a university spokesman.
Loading ...
All Articles