KU gave Eddie Sutton a rocking chair, a framed picture and standing ovation in 2007
One of the University of Kansas’ most beloved sports figures, broadcaster Max Falkenstien, introduced one of Oklahoma State’s greatest sports treasures, Eddie Sutton, to 16,300 attentive KU fans at halftime of the Jayhawks’ men’s basketball game against Oklahoma State on Jan. 10, 2007 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Sutton, in his first year of retirement following a stellar 37-year coaching career that included a 368-151 mark and two Final Four appearances in 16 seasons at OSU, was in Lawrence for a rare occasion — a ceremony in which a rival Big 12 Conference school elected to honor a rival coach on its own homecourt.
“Eddie Sutton is a Kansas guy,” emcee Falkenstien, who died on July 29, 2019 at the age of 95, said at halftime, referring to his good friend, Sutton, who died Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 84.
Falkenstien presented Sutton, who was standing next to his wife, Patsy, a rocking chair and a framed picture of a special moment in a KU game played on March 1, 2003 in Allen Fieldhouse (more on that later).
“Eddie grew up in Bucklin, Kansas,” Falkenstien said, playing the role of historian for the packed crowd that witnessed an 87-57 Jayhawks victory over OSU, led by first-year Cowboy coach Sean Sutton, Eddie’s son.
“He was a tremendous high school basketball player — so good that (former KU coach) Phog Allen went out to recruit him. He spent a lot of time in Bucklin at Eddie’s house.”
Despite a valiant effort, Allen was unable to land native Kansan Sutton in recruiting.
“Eddie wasn’t sure if Dr. Allen was going to have to observe the mandatory retirement age or not, so he chose to go play for Hank Iba at Oklahoma State,” Falkenstien said.
Sutton — he was a standout player at Bucklin High and one of the top recruits in the Midwest his senior year (1954) — explained to the KU faithful that night why he chose to play ball at Oklahoma State instead of KU.
“I almost came to Kansas,” Sutton said. “I made four visits to KU in the spring of my senior year. I’d have gone to Kansas if he (Allen) would have been my coach two years. He was going to retire at the end of my sophomore year, and freshmen were ineligible back then,” added Sutton, who learned enough from Iba and others to win 806 games (against 329 defeats) in his storied career.
Indeed, KU coach Allen was forced to retire before the 1956-57 season after hitting the mandatory retirement age of 65 for state employees. Sutton would have been forced to play for a new head coach at KU for his junior and senior campaigns. Freshmen were ineligible back then.
“I’ve always rooted for Kansas every time they’ve played except against one of my teams or my son’s teams,” Eddie Sutton told the Allen Fieldhouse faithful. Sean coached at OSU and son Scott at Oral Roberts. “Kansas fans have always treated me with great respect.”
Blessed with a great sense of humor, Sutton surmised why KU fans — who gave him a standing ovation as he examined his new rocking chair — liked him so much.
“I probably had the worst record of any coach who’s come in here,” Sutton said with a smile. His Oklahome State teams went 0-11 in Allen. He was 0-1 in Allen at Kentucky coach and 1-0 as Arkansas coach for an overall mark of 1-12 in KU’s tradition-rich building.
“I’ve received a lot of awards. This is the first time I’ve received one from another school,” Sutton added in a serious tone to the fans. “I’m happy to get a rocking chair. Every time I stand for a long time, my back aches. I’ve got some young grandchildren I can rock in it.”
Falkenstien made sure the fans were aware of Sutton’s place in state of Kansas history.
“He was an outstanding college player. One night the Jayhawks went to Stillwater with Wilt Chamberlain and Oklahoma State beat Kansas by two points (56-54 on Feb. 21, 1957) and Eddie Sutton scored 18 points,” Falkenstien said.
“It’s on the sideline where he built his legend. He coached Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State (and half a season as interim coach at San Francisco) and took them all to the NCAA Tournament. He was the first coach to ever take four teams to the Big Dance.
“Three Final Fours and four times national coach of the year, but that’s not why we honor him,” Falkenstien told the 16,300 fans, nearly all of whom remained in their seats at halftime rather than visiting the concession stands or restrooms. “He coached with dignity, with class and brought so many good things to the game of basketball.”
KU fans may recall one class act in particular.
In one of the most memorable moments in a home game in the 15-year Roy Williams era, Sutton ran from the visitor’s bench to KU’s bench to embrace KU seniors Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison after they exited their final home game.
Yes, there were 55 seconds left in the Jayhawks’ 79-61 win over Sutton’s Cowboys on March 1, 2003 when Sutton showed up on Jayhawks’ side of the court.
”I was messing around with Jess, our manager,” Collison said of senior manager Jessica Johansen, who also was honored in pre-game ceremonies on KU’s Senior Night in 2003.
“She always said I sweat a lot and my jersey is all sweaty, so I went to hug her and soak her. All of a sudden, I see coach Sutton there. He said it’s been a lot of fun coaching against me. It was a classy move,” Collison said.
“It meant a lot. He’s just a classy guy,” Hinrich added.
In fact, it was a picture of Sutton hugging Hinrich that was put into a frame and given to Sutton by Falkenstien along with the rocking chair in 2007.
Williams joked after the game that Sutton could have been whistled for a technical foul for leaving the coach’s box to acknowledge Hinrich and Collison.
“I wish they’d called a ‘T.’ It would have been cute. I would have sent somebody out there to shoot it backward,” Williams said of the ensuing free throw following the technical. “It says a lot about coach Sutton that he’d do that...”
KU coach Bill Self, who worked for Sutton at OSU from 1991 to ‘93, said Sutton often mentioned KU and the state of Kansas.
“Coach Sutton always had great respect for Kansas. One, he grew up in Bucklin, and two, Dr. Allen coached here,” Self said. “Mr. Iba (Henry, Sutton’s coach at Oklahoma State) and Dr. Allen were competitors, but very respectful. There is an unwritten rule of great respect between these two programs. Some of the great matchups in the league have been when Oklahoma State and Kansas have played.”
Self went 1-2 as KU’s coach versus his mentor’s OSU teams. Sutton had departed OSU on a leave of absence during the 2005-06 season when the Jayhawks swept the Cowboys, who were led by Sean Sutton at the time.
The first meeting between teacher and pupil (during Self’s time at KU) was OSU’s 80-60 victory over the Jayhawks on Feb. 9, 2004 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.
The Jayhawks and Cowboys both entered with 7-1 league records, leading to a frenzied atmosphere in Gallagher-Iba, where OSU graduate Self was coaching his initial game as KU coach against his alma mater.
OSU, led by John Lucas’ 21 points and Tony Allen’s 17, rolled to leads of 18-6, 26-9 and 44-26 at the half en route to a blowout victory.
“Bill Self got a technical (in first half) and I’m honestly not sure what he was so fired up about. Maybe he wanted to get tossed so he didn’t have to watch the rest of this,” reporter Marshall Scott of pistolsfiringblog.com wrote of that evening.
Self said: “Their crowd was awesome, as was their team. I told our guys that’s how basketball is meant to be played.”
That was the only meeting between the teams that season. They split a pair in 2004-05. KU won 81-79 Feb.. 27, 2005 in Allen and lost 78-75 to the Pokes in the second round of the Big 12 tourney at Dallas.
Self on Sunday offered this reflection on his mentor and friend.
“Coach Sutton was a great coach, a pillar in our profession, but he was a better person than he was a coach,” said Self, who was thrilled in April when Sutton was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s class of 2020. “The impact he had on so many lives does not go unnoticed by those he’s touched directly and indirectly. I’m very proud that I was able to spend some time with him and watch him totally galvanize a community at Oklahoma State. He will be missed.”
By folks in the state of Oklahoma ... and Kansas.
This story was originally published May 25, 2020 at 4:32 PM with the headline "KU gave Eddie Sutton a rocking chair, a framed picture and standing ovation in 2007."
