Eddie Goes Into the Hall This Week, Let's Look Back

STILLWATER – After too many years of waiting and wondering, the late, great Eddie Sutton is finally going into the Naismith Hall of Fame this week on Saturday, May 15th. The ceremony, which was set to take place last year, was postponed due to the pandemic.

Eddie is one of just five Cowboys throughout the history of the program to be inducted into the Naismith HoF, joining Henry Iba, Don Haskins, Bob Kurland and Bill Self.

So, in honor of Eddie’s historic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, let’s take a look back throughout his long and insanely incredible career.

Let’s start off with the fact there are only 10 coaches throughout the history of Division I college basketball to have at least 800 wins, with Eddie making the list with 806 wins. He was also the first coach to ever take four teams to the NCAA tournament, Arkansas, Creighton, Kentucky and Oklahoma State, as well as one of a just a few coaches to take teams from two different schools to the Final Four, Arkansas and Oklahoma State.

Eddie was a two-time AP College Coach of the Year, in 1978 and 1986, as well as the NABC Coach of the Year in 1986. He was also a four-time Southwest Conference Coach of the Year, 1975, ’77, ’79 and ’81, the SEC Coach of the Year in 1986, the Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1993 and the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1998.

Sutton spent 11 very successful seasons at Arkansas where he amassed a 260-75 record, which included five Southwest Conference titles, nine appearances in the NCAA tournament and a trip to the Final Four in 1978.

After a brief stint at Kentucky, Sutton came back home to Stillwater where he ended a near 10-year NCAA tournament drought after just one season at the helm.

He’d lead the Pokes to the Final Four in the 1994-95 season, which many consider to be one of the best teams in program history.

During his time in Stillwater, Sutton led Oklahoma State to 13 NCAA tournament appearances, two Final Four trips and three regular season and conference tournament championships apiece. He’d finish his career at Oklahoma State with a 368-161 overall record, second only behind legendary coach Henry Iba, Sutton’s mentor and college coach at Oklahoma A&M, and with his name on the history white maple court.

He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and while nearly everyone in the college basketball world viewed him as a hall of famer, it was still a travesty to keep him out of the Naismith.

While it took seven attempts for Naismith voters to finally get it right, it was a blessing Eddie was still alive for he and his family to get the news. There’s no question coach Sutton was one of the best to ever coach the game of basketball and his legacy will forever be cemented among the legends of the game.