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We continue our season preview coverage with Oklahoma State assistant coach Scott Sutton. As much as head coach Mike Boynton Jr. enjoys the experience his team has on the court (5 seniors and 1 grad student), he certainly enjoys the experience he has on his sideline as well. He has an assistant he worked with at Stephen F. Austin (Erik Pastrana), a special assistant who has won more than 100 games as a head coach (John Cooper), and a director of player development who is 1 of the best 3-PT shooters in school history (Keiton Page). Another fountain of knowledge on the bench is assistant coach Scott Sutton: son of the legendary Eddie Sutton, the winningest coach in Oral Roberts history, and 3 NCAA tourney appearances/3 conference COY awards on his resume. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Sutton about his fantastic father and his own head coaching success.
You played for your father Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State: how did you like playing for your dad, and what made him such a great coach? I loved it. It was a great opportunity to be a part of the program and see my dad every day: it was a very rewarding experience. I think what separated him from other coaches was not just his great knowledge of the game but the fact that he always got the most out of his players. He could challenge them and make them better without losing them. They knew that he cared about them and that he wanted them to be the best they could be.
What are your memories of the 1993 NCAA tourney (James Brewer scored 26 PTS in a win by Louisville)? The first thing I remember is that we played at the Hoosier Dome: it was so much bigger and different than anywhere else I had ever played before. We beat New Mexico State and then drew Louisville, who was a top-4 seed. We played great in the 1st half but then their experience/talent took over and they pulled ahead and beat us.
What are your memories of the 1994 NCAA tourney (Bryant Reeves scored 32 PTS in a 2-PT loss to Tulsa)? We won the 1st round rather handily. It was down in Oklahoma City so it was great to have the opportunity to play in front of our own fans. After we got through we figured that we would be playing UCLA. The Bruins had a very talented team and went on to win the national title the following year with the same core group. However, they ran into a Tulsa team that put on a great performance and beat them. Between our 1st and 2nd games we had a starter suspended, which hurt us, but we still got out to a 16-PT halftime lead. Tulsa came out in the 2nd half and played fantastic. I think that was the 1st time that many people had heard of Tulsa coach Tubby Smith, who obviously has had a great career. It was my last game as a player so it was a painful/disappointing loss.
1 of your Cowboy teammates was Brooks Thompson, who later led Texas-San Antonio to the NCAA tourney: what was Brooks like as a player, and what made him such a great coach? He was extremely confident. We came in the same year and both redshirted after transferring in. He became 1 of my very best friends when we played on the scout team together. We had a great scout team that year too with Randy Rutherford/Von Bennett (who went on to be a great center). We also had a great backcourt led by Corey Williams: my brother Sean, Darwyn Alexander, and Brooks went head-to-head with those guys every day in practice and never backed down. He worked his tail off too, which I think helped him eventually play in the NBA, and I think that same competitive spirit allowed him to be a great coach as well.
In 1995 you were hired to be an administrative assistant at Oral Roberts for Coach Bill Self: why did you take the job, and could you tell at the time that Self was going to become a championship coach? Bill called my dad about an administrative assistant position that he was creating: these days you would probably call it a director of operations. I knew that I wanted to get into coaching and had a passion for it so I took the job. You never know exactly what kind of success someone will have but I certainly knew that he was something special. He had the same intangibles as my dad when it came to interacting with his players.
What are your memories of the 2006 NCAA tourney as head coach at ORU (Larry Owens had 13 PTS/11 REB in a loss to Memphis)? 2006 was a special year. I think that our 2005 team was 1 of the best teams that we ever had but we were upset in the finals by Oakland on a last-second shot: it was a crushing loss. We dominated the regular season and came back to play for the title again so to be able to celebrate with those guys was very memorable. I actually thought we got a bad seed that year. It was our 1st time going to the NCAA tourney so we got a #16 seed and had to play Coach John Calipari and 1 of his best Memphis teams. We actually led with about 4 minutes to go in the 1st half and the crowd got behind us because we were the underdog…and then they hit us with a 16-2 run and we never really got back into it.
What are your memories of the 2007 NCAA tourney (Ken Tutt scored 19 PTS in a loss to Washington State)? We had great players that year with Caleb Green/Ken Tutt, who came in together in 2003. We came back and won it again and had what I thought was a really good draw in Washington State but we did not play well in the 2nd half, which was really disappointing. I think that it was easier the 1st time because we knew what we were up against but we really believed that we could win in 2007.
You are the all-time winningest coach in Oral Roberts history: what makes you such a great coach, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I was in a very unique situation at ORU. There were 3 main things that allowed us to succeed. #1: the school supported basketball. I had a great boss in Mike Carter and the school understands the importance of basketball, which dates all the way back to when Oral Roberts himself was president. The 2nd thing is that we had a great staff. I was able to keep assistant coaches for a long time, and when they moved on to bigger things I was able to replace them with outstanding people. The 3rd thing was recruiting players. We were able to do a great job of recruiting high-level players, which allowed us to win a bunch of games. As for the record, few coaches have been at a mid-major program as long as I was. Usually you either have success and move on or you do not have success and it eventually costs you your job. I think that it would take someone in a similar situation who comes in and loves the university and wants to stay there, but I certainly think others will win here. It is a great job: a place where you should be in the top 2-3 in your league every year.
Your older brother Sean played/coached at Oklahoma State and made the NCAA title game last year as an advisor to Texas Tech coach Chris Beard: who is the best athlete in the family? Sean was a great basketball player: he has a tremendous understanding of how to play and is very athletic. I think that knowledge allowed both of us to play at a high level.