Oklahoma State University Athletics
Sutton Nominated For Basketball Hall Of Fame
April 24, 2002 | Cowboy Basketball
April 24, 2002
Stillwater, Okla. - Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton has been nominated for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced today. He is one of 14 players and coaches named as finalists by the North American Screening Committee.
A native of Bucklin, Kan., Coach Sutton is a four-time national Coach of the Year (1977, '78, '86, '95) and in 32 seasons coaching at the collegiate level, has compiled a 702-278 record, the sixth-best among active coaches and 14th all-time.
In his 32 seasons at the Division I level (Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State), Sutton has produced 22 20-win seasons, two 30-win seasons and only one losing season. He has guided Arkansas (1978) and Oklahoma State (1995) to the NCAA Final Four and had five Regional Final appearances and 10 Regional Semifinal appearances.
A seven-time conference Coach of the Year selection, he has led his teams to 23 NCAA appearances in 32 years, including 12 straight from 1977-88 and 21 times in his last 24 years. Sutton has won conference championships in the SEC, SWC and Big Eight, and was named Coach of the Year in those three conferences, in addition to the Big 12. He was the first coach, and one of only three, in NCAA history to lead four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
The 14 finalists and one team were selected from 57 North American candidates and are the last of four groups selected for consideration by the Honors Committee for election into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Others that have been nominated are: Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Maurice Cheeks, Adrian Dantley, Bobby Jones, Chet Walker, James Worth, Larry Brown, Lefty Driesel, Lute Olson, Bill Sharman, Jerry Colangelo, Junius Kellogg and Tex Winter. One team, the Harlem Globetrotters, has also been nominated.
The Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2002 will be announced on June 5, 2002, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. It will be the first opportunity to learn the identities of the new electees.
