COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Sutton Shows That He Hasn’t Lost His Touch in Coaching

Eddie Sutton left college basketball in disgrace. He celebrates his return as . . . coach of the year?

It could happen, especially if the revived and reformed Sutton, who spent last year in semi-exile, continues to guide his Oklahoma State team up the rankings.

Today, No. 16 in the polls and climbing. An NCAA tournament bid, their first since 1983, is a lock for the Cowboys (19-5). A Big Eight Conference championship is within reach. And in Sutton’s case, so is the chance to repair a damaged reputation.

Few have questioned Sutton’s coaching ability. He elevated Creighton to a legitimate Division I program. He rebuilt the Arkansas basketball legacy from scratch. When he arrived at tradition-rich Kentucky in 1985, he did so poised to win national championships.

Four years later, he resigned. His record was respectable enough: three NCAA tournament appearances, including a quarterfinal game in 1986 and a Sweet 16 game in 1988, two Southeastern Conference championships, two SEC tournament titles and two top-10 poll rankings. But his failure to properly monitor the rest of his program caused Sutton’s downfall.

The Chris Mills recruiting scandal is well documented, as are charges that at least one Kentucky player cheated on his entrance exam. Not surprisingly, the NCAA imposed harsh sanctions, some of which (no postseason play, for example) don’t expire until next season. Sutton’s name never appeared in any of the NCAA violations, but it was clear, even by his own admission, that he hadn’t supervised his staff.

After spending last season as a consultant for Nike, Sutton returned to Oklahoma State, his alma mater. He acknowledged a drinking problem and vowed no more recurrences. He also said the mistakes made at Kentucky would not be repeated. He replaced Leonard Hamilton, a onetime Sutton assistant at Kentucky.

“I really felt (the one-year absence) got my batteries recharged for the home stretch of my coaching career,” Sutton said. “It was a really healthy situation, kind of a blessing in disguise.”

Sutton attended 80 games last season and conducted countless clinics. “I felt like I was still part of the game,” he said. “But the one thing I missed was the daily association I had with the players. I still like to teach.”

When the Oklahoma State job became available, Sutton’s resume was one of the first received. At 54, he was asking for a second chance. He hasn’t looked back.

“You don’t just lay off a year and think you’ve gotten rusty,” he said. “Had I completely gotten away from the game, it might have been more difficult. But I wasn’t away.”

Already Sutton is comparing the situation at Oklahoma State to an old favorite: Arkansas.

“It’s very similar to when I first went (there),” he said. “We were able to elevate it to an elite class. And here it will be easier (to do) than it was when I went to Arkansas.”

Four reasons why you might want to remember Oklahoma State come tournament time:

1) Byron Houston.

The 6-foot-7 junior center leads the Cowboys in scoring (22.7), rebounds (10.5), blocks (1.5) and steals (1.5). He led the same categories last season, too. One of the country’s best-kept secrets. One of only three Big Eight players to score more than 1,000 points, grab 700 rebounds, block 150 shots and record 100 assists and 100 steals in a career.

If you can name the other two, you’re a genius. (Answer later.)

2) Guards Darwyn Alexander, Sean Sutton and Corey Williams.

Good tournament teams have good backcourts. Alexander, Sutton (Eddie’s son) and Williams might be the class of the Big Eight and beyond.

3) Road warriors.

A miserable road team in the past (3-11 in conference play during the last two seasons), Oklahoma State is 7-4 in away games this season.

4) Eddie Sutton.

A defensive specialist, Sutton understands how to control the tempo and take opposing crowds out of the game. He is tournament tested, and his enthusiasm for the game has returned. “I feel like I’m on a mission,” he said.

What would any week be without at least one school suing the NCAA?

This week’s winner of the Jurisprudence Award goes to Robert Morris College of Coraopolis, Pa., which wants the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny (Pa.) County to amend, and in some cases eliminate, sanctions against the program levied against it by the NCAA. The penalties came after a school trustee admitted to paying part of point guard Andre Boyd’s $6,200 bank loan.

“We wish there were some other way,” said Dr. Edward Nicholson, president of the college. “But it seems there’s no other way to seek remedy.”

The original NCAA sanctions, which were to begin this season, called for a two-year probation, the return of $88,145 earned from previous NCAA postseason play, no live TV appearances, no postseason play this year and a loss of two basketball scholarships next year. In its court hearing scheduled to begin today in Pittsburgh, Robert Morris attorneys will request formally that the NCAA probation be reduced from two years to one, that the school get to keep the $88,145 and that it be allowed to play in postseason tournaments. The scholarship reduction is acceptable.

The decision to sue did not come easily. However, when an appeal by Robert Morris to the NCAA was denied last week, Nicholson said the school had no other choice.

“We weren’t convinced we were treated fairly,” he said.

According to Nicholson, the NCAA originally assured Robert Morris athletic department officials that Boyd’s loan, which was co-signed by a college trustee--and the payments of which were deducted from the trustee’s account by the bank when Boyd failed to make them--broke no rules. Later, Nicholson said, the NCAA enforcement staff told school lawyers the loan arrangement was indeed a minor violation, but nothing more. Coupled with those assurances and the fact that Robert Morris had reported the loan and had a good record with the NCAA, school officials expected leniency.

“I thought this being such a special case, we were just stunned when we found out that the Infractions Committee thought (the loan) was a major violation and had penalized us so severely,” Nicholson said.

A decision is expected early next week.

Louisiana State Coach Dale Brown can’t wait for Bill Walton, the former UCLA and NBA star, to return to Baton Rouge and work with center Shaquille O’Neal next week. Brown, king of hyperbole, calls Walton “the reincarnation of John Wooden. The best teacher I’ve ever seen.” Brown also offers a theory about this season: “I don’t ever recall a year where more teams have more losses,” he said. “Parity, obviously, is one reason. But the war, other distractions, I don’t know. There’s been something missing this college season. I’ve been listening to some of the announcers. There doesn’t seem to be the normal spark. Doesn’t seem to be the intrigue. I don’t know if the war has something to do with it. A bizarre year.” . . . Eddie Sutton tried to pick his NCAA tournament invitation list. He came up with 67 teams, and that doesn’t include surprise conference tournament winners. “I’ve never seen anything like (this season),” he said. “There’s going to be some teams (in the NCAA’s) with .500 records.” Count on Oklahoma State, Kansas, Nebraska and maybe Oklahoma making the tournament from the Big Eight. Colorado remains a longshot.

Mississippi State continues to inch its way into the national spotlight. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 21, haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1963, the year Coach Richard Williams was a high school senior in Pearl, Miss.

“Mississippi State basketball, at that time, was a really good deal,” said Williams, hired four years ago to revive his alma mater’s program. “If you were a good football player, you went to Ole Miss. If you were a good basketball player, you went to Mississippi State.”

By the early 1980s, Mississippi State basketball was a mess and stayed that way until Williams arrived in 1986. Last season, the Bulldogs recorded only their second winning record in a decade. This year, thanks to a starting lineup that includes four seniors, the Bulldogs are guaranteed their first winning SEC record since the 1978-79 season. Count on an NCAA appearance, too.

“Our students have been getting to games two hours ahead of time,” Williams said. “We’ve had four consecutive sellouts, and the last three home games are sellouts.”

Reminder to Associated Press voters: Wake Forest (15-8) has won five of six, seven of nineand has beaten Duke, Virginia, North Carolina State and Georgia Tech.

The Demon Deacons also have freshman forward Rodney Rogers, the likely choice for Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year. Rogers is averaging 16 points and eight rebounds.

History buffs also will remember that Wake Forest advanced to the quarterfinals in the 1984 NCAA tournament. The Demon Deacons handed retiring Ray Meyer his final defeat at DePaul.

Earlier trivia answer: Danny Manning of Kansas and Leroy Combs of Oklahoma State.

Our top 10: 1) Nevada Las Vegas, 2) Ohio State, 3) Arkansas, 4) Indiana, 5) North Carolina, 6) Duke, 7) Arizona, 8) Utah, 9) St. John’s, 10) Syracuse.

Our waiting list: Southern Mississippi, East Tennessee State, Wake Forest, New Mexico State, Kansas and Oklahoma State.