FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton will not be elected to this year's Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class, his family was told Tuesday.
Sutton, who is 83 and in declining health, was a finalist for the Hall of Fame for the sixth time. Naismith finalists must receive 75 percent of the vote from the Hall's 24 voters for admission.
“Once again the phone rings and what should be a joyful moment for the Sutton family becomes instead a downpour of sadness,” the Sutton family wrote in a statement that was distributed through the Twitter account for an upcoming documentary film about him.
“Our first reaction each time is confusion & anger toward the board for once again failing to acknowledge the great career and accomplishments of this worthy candidate….The truth is we do not need their vote to tell us what kind of man he is, or to validate what a gifted Coach he is and the accomplished career he has had….”
The Naismith Hall will officially announce its 2019 class during a ceremony at the Final Four in Minneapolis this weekend. Former Arkansas guard Sidney Moncrief, who played for Sutton, also is a finalist for this year's Hall of Fame class.
Sutton won 804 games, coached in three Final Fours, won 10 regular-season conference championships and led four schools to the NCAA Tournament. He is the winningest college coach who has not been elected into the Naismith Hall, which is considered the sport's highest honor.
Sutton's absence from the Naismith Hall has been discussed in basketball circles for years. Many believe the omission is for some variation of his lack of a national championship, an NCAA scandal that forced his resignation at Kentucky in the 1980s or for his documented alcoholism.
Sutton was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic in the 1980s, and in 2006 he resigned at Oklahoma State three months following a DUI citation.
The floor at Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena is named for Sutton, who won 368 games and went to two Final Fours there in 16 seasons from 1990-2006.
In 11 seasons at Arkansas from 1974-85, Sutton won 260 games. He led the Razorbacks to nine NCAA Tournaments and the 1978 Final Four.
Last week, the University of Arkansas' board of trustees voted to honor Sutton in a manner to be determined at a future time. UA chancellor Joseph Steinmetz indicated the recognition could be with a statue or a plaque in the soon-to-be-renovated hall of honor at Bud Walton Arena.
A banner with Sutton's name already is displayed above the arena floor in Fayetteville.
Sutton was inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.