Future Hall of Famer Sutton leads OSU into the Tournament

There are very few coaches in NCAA history who belong in the same class as Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton.

The coach, recently nominated to the National Basketball Hall of Fame, has won 723 college basketball games. He's led some of the nation's most prestigious programs, including Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky. He's a seven-time league coach of the year and a four time National Coach of the Year -- winning coach-of-the-year honors at each of the four Division I programs he's coached.

In that span, Sutton has seen the NCAA tournament develop from a 24-team tournament -- the format during his playing days at Oklahoma State -- to its current 65-team status.

As a top flight college basketball coach, it's a change for which Sutton couldn't be prouder.

"The NCAA tournament has grown by leaps and bounds," Sutton said. "For us, in basketball, we think it's the greatest sporting event ever invented."

Sutton has been one of the key actors, spurring the NCAA's development in his 33 seasons as a Division I coach. Including this year's bid, Sutton has led his teams to the NCAA field 23 times.

That feat becomes even more remarkable when it is considered that in each of his head coaching jobs, Sutton took over programs in need of serious rebuilding.

Before returning to his alma mater, Sutton helped reverse the fortunes of Creighton, Arkansas and Kentucky, guiding each to at least one NCAA tournament berth.

All of these turnarounds, however, pale in comparison to the job that Sutton has done at Oklahoma State.

Accepting the head coaching position in 1990, Sutton returned to Stillwater, Okla., for the first time since serving as a graduate assistant to fellow 700-game winner Hank Iba.

The program that Sutton inherited was far different from the perennial NCAA squad that he had left nearly 30 years earlier. These Cowboys had made just one NCAA appearance in the past 25 years, with just seven winning seasons during that span.

But Sutton worked his magic yet again in his first year at Oklahoma State, guiding the Cowboys to a 24-8 record and a spot in the Sweet 16.

Since 1990, Sutton has brought his team to the Big Dance 11 of the past 12 years, including berths in the 1995 Final Four and the 2000 Elite Eight.

Despite all of his experience, nothing could prepare him for Jan. 27, 2001.

On that day, two Cowboys players -- Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson -- six team staffers and two broadcasters were killed in a plane crash while returning from a game against Colorado. This event has helped Sutton keep the game of college basketball in perspective.

"When we lost those 10 wonderful young men... I think we all grew as people," Sutton said. "I don't think a day goes by when we don't think about those guys."

It is this same level-headed thinking that permeates Sutton's attitude towards this year's NCAA tournament amidst the war with Iraq.

"I talked to a couple of our guys about the war starting, and I think we all appreciate that we live in this country and we have healthy bodies and can be playing in the NCAA tournament.

"It also makes us realize that basketball isn't nearly as important as some of the things we take for granted."

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