Eddie Sutton obit

OSU basketball: Eddie Sutton was a 'Hall of Fame friend'

He was not on the list.

When Harry Birdwell moved back to Stillwater in 1989 to become his alma mater’s vice president of public affairs, he moved about four doors down from Henry Iba on Woodland Court. Ol’ Doc Cooper lived close by. Talk about thick orange blood. Maybe the three most passionate Cowboys ever.

Stillwater’s a cool place. You can conduct business on neighborhood sidewalks. Birdwell had been on the job about six months when one evening, Iba walked down the street with Eddie Sutton in tow.

“Harry,” Iba told Birdwell, “I want you to know Eddie, because I’m really interested in getting him back here as men’s basketball coach.”

Funny to think about now, that anyone had to sell OSU on Sutton. But 30 years ago this spring, that’s exactly what happened, and Iba needed Birdwell to put in a good word with then-OSU president John Campbell.

Birdwell did just that. He said he told Campbell the next day, “John, I don’t know how long you’ll be the president, but this hire may come as close to defining your tenure as anything you do.”

Campbell indeed hired Sutton, and you know the rest. The revival of Cowboy basketball. A transformed athletic department. An unsurpassed OSU legend. Sutton died Saturday at the age of 84, the most adored Cowboy of them all.

What also sprouted was a friendship. Birdwell and Sutton became fast friends, even before Birdwell was OSU’s athletic director from 2002-05.

I called Birdwell on Tuesday to talk about Sutton; the memories and emotion came pouring out.

“For 15 years at OSU, I had day to day contact with him,” Birdwell said. “I got to know him well and see inside, see him at his most vulnerable times.

“I knew him as a person who adored his spouse. Patsy was his North Star.

“I knew him as a man who loved his children. I know he told them so, so they’d be sure of it, almost daily.

“He was an enthralling storyteller, who … shared all the greats he had known through the years, and he was an incredible basketball historian.”

Birdwell told the story of years ago, Sutton saying he wanted to draw Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament, “because they’ve got a freshman point guard who’s going to be one of the best ever.” The luck of the draw didn’t go Sutton’s way. He didn’t get to coach against Chris Paul.

Birdwell recalled an off-season when Sutton was away from the office for a few days for a trip to Washington, D.C. When he returned, he sported a black tie with orange saxophones. Birdwell asked Sutton about the necktie.

It came from the president. President Bill Clinton. The Suttons had visited the White House; even stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom.

“The kind of stuff he experienced was extraordinary,” Birdwell said. “He didn’t seek the spotlight. He sort of ran from it, but the spotlight chased him every day of his life.”

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Birdwell and Sutton talked Cardinals baseball — Eddie and Patsy Sutton honeymooned in St. Louis and took in a game at old Sportsman’s Park.

Birdwell and Sutton talked politics. “He was a guy who didn’t get actively involved in politics day to day, for obvious reasons,” Birdwell said. “But he was such a keen observer. He knew and understood the political process and legislative process. He had an opportunity to know and be around presidents and senators and major business leaders all over the country.”

Indeed, a reader emailed me Tuesday, saying he saw Sutton in the Payne County Courthouse in 2004, with 10 of his players. He had brought them there to register to vote.

Birdwell and Sutton talked movies. “He was a tremendous movie critic,” Birdwell said. “He was better than any movie critic on the network level. If you would listen to an Eddie Sutton movie review, you’d know a lot about it.”

After OSU beat Saint Joseph’s to reach the 2004 Final Four, Sutton seemed as excited about meeting actor Tim Robbins as winning the East Regional.

And Birdwell was there during Sutton’s darkest times. The 2001 plane crash that killed 10 men in OSU’s traveling party. The 2006 drunk-driving crash that ended Sutton’s Cowboy career.

“He was a man, especially as he aged, who understood his frailties,” Birdwell said. “And if he ever took you into his confidence, you knew how much a part of every breath his frailties were on his own mind.

“In those quiet times after hours, when we’d just sit and visit, we talked about everything from life and death and eternity, and I think even since he retired, the older he got, the greater his appreciation of God’s grace and forgiveness.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever know a guy quite like him. I’m just grateful to know that he’s gone to glory. And he was a Hall of Fame friend.”

 

Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) 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, Sutton was a successful head coach head coach at Tulsa Central High School and the College of Southern Idaho. Sutton began coaching at the NCAA level in 1969 at Creighton University, followed by Arkansas from 1974 to 1985, Kentucky 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. During his college coaching career, Sutton became the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA Final Four and 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 one NCAA Tournament. Sutton was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

John Calipari and Sutton's former players are reacting to his death on social media.

    Eddie Sutton has passed away. He had a HOF career and touched many lives, including mine. He was always kind to me and my family when I was a young coach and we’ve stayed in touch throughout his life. He’s going to be missed. RIP, my friend. He and his family are in my prayers. — John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) May 24, 2020

    Eddie Sutton was a fascinating and complicated person. He also was an unbelievable teacher of the game of basketball. I was fortunate and lucky to have learned from him. Grateful.  Hall. Of. Famer.

Thanks, Coach Ed. Rest.🏀🌎❤️🖤 — Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) May 24, 2020

    Just heard my 1st coach at UK, Hall of Fame Coach Eddie Sutton passed away. RIP. This pic is from my days coaching at USF. Had a chance to spend some time with him when we played at Oklahoma St. 🙏🏾🙏🏾#bbn @kentuckyalumni – Reggie Hanson

Dear Coach, thank you. You told us that life was hard, but if we could make it through your practices, we could achieve anything. You were right.

You told us that when we play “Oklahoma” or “the Jayhawks” we outta…

— Doug Gottlieb

We lost a great man and coach today. So much respect for all he gave the game. RIP Coach Sutton — Coach Kelvin Sampson

This is gonna hurt me alot!! You given me the "Warrior" name and I will miss you Coach!!! — Ivan McFarlin

NO WORDS.........???? GONNA MISS YOU COACH! I’VE SHARED WITH THE FAMILY MY PAIN, BUT WHEN I FIND THE WORDS AND THE STORIES I WILL SHARE YOU GENIUS AND LOVE FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, BUT RIGHT NOW I WILL REMEMBER THE COACH… — Desmond Mason

Coach Sutton was one of the all-time greats to roam the sidelines. He is an important part of the history of the Creighton program. RIP Coach. — Coach Greg McDermott