Former Hogs revel in Sutton's honor

Former Arkansas basketball coach Eddie Sutton, center, talks with former players Joe Kleine, left, and Darrel Walker, right, during a game between Arkansas and Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The phone call Eddie Sutton and his family had been waiting on for nearly 20 years finally came at 1:57 p.m. Friday.

Steve Sutton -- Eddie's oldest of three sons -- answered the call from Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame President John Delova.

Instead of disappointment as had been the case six previous times when Eddie Sutton was a Hall of Fame finalist going back to 2002, this call resulted in joyful celebration.

Sutton, 84, and his family members -- including sons Scott and Sean -- gathered at his home in Tulsa and got the news that he had been elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame.

"It was the last thing on Dad's bucket list," Steve Sutton said. "So it was huge for him and us three boys and our families.

"One thing I can say for all of us, it was a huge relief that we finally got there."

Steve Sutton made a biblical reference to what Eddie Sutton and his family went through waiting for his hall of fame induction.

"In certain ways, we've been 40 years out in the desert," Steve Sutton said. "So to finally be able to come in is just such a huge blessing."

The Suttons were not alone in their celebration and relief. Steve Sutton said the family has heard from hundreds of his father's former players, assistant coaches, managers and trainers with teams he coached at Creighton, the University of Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.

Eddie Sutton led all four of those schools to a combined 26 NCAA Tournament appearances in 37 seasons as a college head coach. He had an 806-326 overall record, including 260-75 in 11 seasons at Arkansas from 1975-85. He led the Razorbacks to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by a trip to the 1978 Final Four.

"I'm very pleased that Coach Sutton got in. We knew it was just a matter of time," said Sidney Moncrief, an All-American guard for Sutton at Arkansas in 1978 and 1979 who was inducted into the hall of fame last year. "Occasionally, things take longer than what they should, but the bottom line is he's made it and it's well deserved."

Sutton, a native of Bucklin, Kan., previously had been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the state Sports Hall of Fame for Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. The court in Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena bears his name, a banner in his honor hangs in Arkansas' Walton Arena and the Razorbacks' practice facility is named after him.

But being voted into the Naismith Hall of Fame had eluded Sutton until now.

"Coach Sutton is getting the ultimate honor because he was the ultimate coach," said Joe Kleine, an All-Southwest Conference center for Sutton at Arkansas. "He meets every criteria for a coach who should be in the hall of fame."

Sutton had three Final Four teams -- including at Oklahoma State in 1995 and 2004 -- and took teams to the Elite Eight six times and the Sweet Sixteen 12 times.

Creighton hadn't gone to the NCAA Tournament in 10 years before Sutton took the Bluejays there. Arkansas had one NCAA Tournament appearance in 25 years before his arrival and Oklahoma State had one in 26 years before he returned to his alma mater.

"He went to places -- with the exception of Kentucky -- and rebuilt programs that had fallen on hard times," Kleine said. "Even at Kentucky he had success early. I think that says a lot.

"And he didn't just win at the programs he coached, he took them to elite levels. He graduated his players and had numerous great players and great teams.

"Coach Sutton is a flawed man -- like us all -- but he's a genuinely good man who cared about his players. I think he's a good family man and he was a great, great role model for us as young men coming through his program. He taught us, 'This is how a man acts, this is how a man conducts himself. This is how a man works and talks to people.' "

Darrell Walker, an All-American guard for the Razorbacks in 1983 and now the coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, drove to Tulsa on Friday to be with Sutton.

"When he got the call from the hall of fame, I was standing right by him patting my hands on his shoulders," Walker said. "It was a special moment.

"I felt so humbled to be part of that, to be there with this man who has had such a great impact on my life and my career. He shed a tear when I was talking to him and he got a little emotional.

"When things had calmed down a little after the call, I told Coach Sutton, 'You're in the hall of fame next to guys like Bobby Knight and Dean Smith -- right where you belong.' "

Sean Sutton, who succeeded his father as Oklahoma State's coach and is now a special advisor at Texas Tech to Coach Chris Beard, said his father is humbled and honored to be part of the 2020 induction class for the Naismith Hall of Fame.

"I'm so excited and proud of him for everything that he's stood for, not only as a coach, but the biggest thing is as a person and as a father," Sean Sutton said. "He was a great ambassador for the game of basketball, but his legacy is way more than winning games and championships. The impact that he'll leave will be on the number of lives he touched and helped improve.

"I know he feels strongly about this, that if he could talk he would say his players and his assistant coaches, his managers -- anyone who's been associated with his programs over the years -- they always been part of his family.

"He'd say that they deserve as much credit for this honor of being in the hall of fame as he does. Without them and their contributions, this wouldn't ever have happened."

Eddie Sutton lost most of his ability to speak when he suffered a stroke three years ago.

"He can say, 'I love you,' and he can say 'yes' really well," Steve Sutton said. "But he's extremely proficient at 'no.' Everybody who hears that always chuckles because they probably can visualize him saying that."

Moncrief said Sutton's induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame means he is being honored worldwide for his contributions to basketball.

"You're being recognized for your accomplishments not only within the United States, but throughout the world," Moncrief said. "It shows the consistency of Coach Sutton's commitment to excellence in his system, and his ability to adapt to players within his system.

"When he first came to Arkansas, he played really slow and deliberate and people thought our teams played that way [in the late 1970s]. But actually, we scored 60, 70 points, sometimes 80 without a three-point line and without a shot clock.

"He knew we had better players, so he gave us more freedom to utilize our skill set. When he had players who didn't have that skill set, he would slow it down and make it fit to whatever their skill set was."

Kleine said Sutton coached his players hard but treated them fairly.

"Coach Sutton didn't tell you what you wanted to hear, he told you what you needed to hear -- and he didn't demean you or personally attack you in delivering that message," Kleine said. "He told you like a man but without being a bully or being disrespectful. If there was something you needed to do, you were going to hear it."

Steve Sutton said his father was able to understand and appreciate the news of being elected to the hall of fame.

"He immediately closed his eyes, and I think part of that was a sense of relief and just feeling, 'I got across the finish line,' " Steve Sutton said. "Then right before we got off the phone, he looked up and kind of pumped his fist.

"To me, that was confirmation he was absolutely with us and knew exactly what was going on."

Moncrief can relate to Sutton's long wait to get into the Naismith Hall of Fame. It finally happened for Moncrief 28 years after he retired as an NBA player.

"The bottom line is Coach Sutton is forever enshrined with the basketball greats throughout the world," Moncrief said. "That's what's most important."

Sports on 04/05/2020