Stillwater Runs Sweet : After Disaster at Kentucky, Sutton Finds Success--and Happiness--at Oklahoma State

Forget the six-figure shoe contract, the clothing allowance, the loaner car. You want to talk about a good situation? Try getting this written into your contract:

At 6:49 Thursday evening, Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton walked into the dining hall of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority house and was immediately greeted with the kind of cheers usually reserved for, say, Luke Perry of “Beverly Hills 90210.” Thing is, Sutton’s sideburns aren’t half as cool.

Didn’t matter. To hear the whoops and hollers, you would have thought Sutton had saved the house from double-secret probation.

Instead, Sutton, in only his second season at Oklahoma State, has rescued a once-proud basketball program from mediocrity, which, in these parts, is good enough. In return, the locals have treated Sutton as if he were a state treasure.

Need proof? When the team returned from a recent victory against archrival Oklahoma, an overjoyed Cowboy fan walked up to Sutton, took him in her arms and gave him a big kiss.

Sutton couldn’t be happier. Nor could the 6,381 Oklahoma State fans who wedge themselves into Gallagher-Iba Arena every home game. Together they watch a team capable of beating anyone and perhaps, if star forward Byron Houston begins to reassert himself, capable of earning an April trip to Minneapolis and the Final Four.

In the meantime, Sutton savors the moment. If everyone has a version of heaven, then surely this would be part of Sutton’s. Imagine: Back home at Oklahoma State, his alma mater . . . back in the top five--his No. 2-ranked Cowboys (20-1) will face No. 3 Kansas today at Gallagher-Iba Arena . . . back on the court with his son, Sean, Oklahoma State’s starting point guard, and son, Scott, who will see playing time next season.

“I think this is the happiest I’ve seen him,” Sean said. “It’s maybe the happiest one season he’s ever had.”

At last, his family is content and Sutton, a head coach for the last 22 years, is truly secure. The harsh memories of his stormy four-season stay at Kentucky have subsided, enough so that Sutton said he will never utter an unpleasant word about the circumstances that led to his much-publicized resignation in 1989.

Sutton would prefer to look ahead. What he sees is a long and lasting relationship with the school that, in a sense, rescued him.

“I feel like I’m almost on a mission,” he said.

Some mission. Nearly every Thursday night, Sutton and broadcaster Tom Dirato take their one-hour radio call-in show to a different location on Greek Row. They are treated like royalty.

This time, the Zetas’ turned on the charm.

Truth be known, there hadn’t been this much excitement in the ZTA dining room since the Slim Fast and mystery meat food fight. About 100 sorority members, many of whom wore Oklahoma State sweat shirts, waited patiently for Sutton to arrive.

If you can believe it, there was reserved seating. In the front row, several of the Zetas discussed questions to ask the Cowboy head coach. Others admired the homemade banners tacked above the table located at the front of the room.

“Zeta Tau Alpha Welcomes The Eddie Sutton Show,” read one.

Showtime approached. Dirato took off his wristwatch and placed it in front of him. He glanced at his notes and then, like everyone else in the room, he waited for Sutton to make his entrance.

He was greeted by a full-fledged ovation. Any louder and one of the crystal chandeliers would have dropped from the ceiling. As it was, the silver tea service in the room’s china cabinet began to rattle.

Sutton, who seemed a little embarrassed by the greeting, waved to the crowd, took his place behind the microphone and thanked everyone for attending. At precisely 7 p.m., the show, which is heard on 25 Oklahoma stations and whose signal reaches New Mexico and North Dakota, began with some recorded music, followed soon by the high-pitched cheers of 100 sorority members bent on talking basketball.

After a brief discussion of last Sunday’s victory against Missouri and Wednesday’s loss to Nebraska, Dirato started taking questions from the studio audience. A sampling:

“Coach Sutton, I’m Joan and I wanted to know how you felt about the Big Eight (Conference) officiating.”

“Coach Sutton, after losing to Nebraska, how will you prepare mentally to play Kansas on Saturday?”

“Coach Sutton, my name’s Michelle and I was wondering if there are any plans to upgrade our nonconference competition?”

Sutton answered every question, some better than others. Rather than risk disciplinary action from the league office, he tap-danced his way around the officiating inquiry. He did say that after the loss to Nebraska, he saw one of the officials at the Lincoln airport that night and chided him for his lack of consistency.

As for the Kansas game, Sutton promised that the Cowboys would be ready. After all, first place in the Big Eight standings would be at stake and possibly the No. 1 ranking in the country.

And Sutton laughed when asked about Oklahoma State’s nonconference schedule.

“Somebody’s giving you those questions,” he said.

The biggest response of the night came when a caller from Oklahoma City wondered how long Sutton might remain at Oklahoma State. Surely a man who had won nearly 500 games and had coached at Arkansas and Kentucky didn’t plan on making Stillwater his last stop.

“I’m here to stay,” Sutton said. “I will finish my coaching career here at Oklahoma State.”

Had you been there, you could have seen the chandeliers sway.

Sutton has found paradise where he least expected it: in a little city that fondly remembers the days of legendary coach Henry Iba--Sutton always calls him Mr. Iba.

Iba taught Sutton the game, the importance of discipline and defense. And Iba watched Sutton tinker with those principles, find his own happy medium and then earn promotion after promotion.

Kentucky was supposed to be the best job a college basketball coach could have. There were tradition, resources and a recruiting pipeline second to none.

As an added bonus, Sean was on the roster, along with some of the most coveted high school recruits in the country. It was hard not to think about the possibilities. One national championship . . . two . . . three?

Try zero. Among the many problems that contributed to Sutton’s relatively short stay was a cheating controversy involving Wildcat star Eric Manuel. Then there was the infamous Chris Mills recruitment, which featured the mysterious package filled with cash. Then there were losses--19 in 1989--and the dreaded NCAA investigation and subsequent penalties.

When the long season ended, Sean thought his father might never coach again. What with the Kentucky scandal, there was talk that Sutton’s chances of landing a prestigious Division I job were doomed.

“That one year tarnished everything,” Sean said. “It was hard for him, hard for me. It seemed like everything had just fallen apart. He would be remembered as a good coach, but also as the guy responsible for the Kentucky situation.”

Sutton left Kentucky shortly after the 1989 season. Though never specifically linked to any of the allegations, his resignation was happily received by Wildcat officials who were eager to put the mess--and Sutton--behind them.

After spending a year as a consultant for Nike, Sutton wanted to return to the sideline. Then the Oklahoma State job became available.

Years ago, Sutton once said that he would crawl to Lexington for a chance at the Kentucky position. For Oklahoma State, he might have begged.

There was no need to. Sutton wanted the Cowboys and the Cowboys wanted him back. They have been holding hands ever since.

At his first news conference, Sutton, without prompting, revealed that he had a drinking problem. It was the first sign, said Sutton watchers, that the man had changed. Since then, said Sean, his father hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol.

Instead, Sutton has concentrated on returning the Oklahoma State program to glory. He has done so with a team that features the immensely talented Houston, three excellent guards--Sean, Corey Williams and Darwyn Alexander--and a 7-foot freshman center, Bryant Reeves.

Sutton also has a deep bench and home-court advantage that is partly responsible for a 27-game winning streak at Gallagher-Iba.

The closest Sutton ever got to a national championship was during the 1977-78 season, when Arkansas reached the Final Four. But unlike past years, Sutton said he realizes there is more to life than an NCAA banner.

Sutton is still strict. But he has also learned to laugh at himself. Every so often he requests a command performance from team manager Ron Arthur, who does a drop-dead impersonation of the Oklahoma State coach.

Arthur’s favorite shtick is to lower his voice about three octaves and then pretend to be angry at Reeves, who has a tendency to be too nice on the court: “You’re itty-bitty, like a poodle, brother. I don’t want any poodles on this team, or Chihuahuas. I’ll tell you what: You do that against Kansas Saturday and those Jayhawks will eat you up, hair and all, brother.”

OK, so it needs some work. But Sutton doesn’t. He has the job he wants, at the place he loves, with the people he cherishes. What more could he want?

By the looks of things, not much. When one of the sorority members nervously approached him at radio show’s end and asked for an autograph for her brother, Scott, Sutton didn’t hesitate.

“To Scott, May your life be full of many three-pointers and layups.”

As is Sutton’s.