Hi again, after some time away. This story made me feel so good I wanted to give it some attention here.
Eddie Sutton, legendary head basketball coach at Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State, is returning to coaching at age 71. Just two victories away from No. 800, Sutton takes over at University of San Francisco.
Sutton resigned from Oklahoma State after several embarrassing incidents involving alcohol. He says he’s been through treatment and that he’s handling the disease on a day-by-day basis, the textbook way to fight it.
I met Sutton in 1998, when he brought Oklahoma State to KeyArena to play the Huskies. That was the Cowboys team that included Desmond Mason, who showed the reason everybody was raving about him. A bunch of us media types talked to Sutton the night before, during practice. He couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating. I’d seen the Sutton as you have, the permanent scowl that suggested that he suffered from chronic constipation. But Sutton was so engaging, so charming, that I was shocked. He was a picture of the Southern Gentleman. He told stories. He made us laugh. As he was talking to us, he heard one of his players belt out a swear word and immediately tossed him out of practice. He gave us a lot to write about.
I’m happy for Sutton. I dearly hope he stays sober the rest of his life. As much as he gave to the game and his players, no one deserves to end his career as he did.
Welcome back, Eddie.
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