Cowboy Blues

Eddie Sutton should be in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Instead, he is fighting for his sobriety again, dealing with a degenerative back problem that has caused him daily pain for two years, and leaving to his son the chore of winning him five more games.

It’s 800 wins that Eddie and his son Sean think Eddie needs to have his coaching talent recognized forever.

When Sutton took a leave of absence last week after being charged with driving under the influence, the Oklahoma State coach had 794 wins. When the Cowboys upset Texas on Sunday, it was 795, because whatever the team does with Sean in charge the rest of the season Eddie gets credit for because the school has kept him as its coach of record.

Is Sutton a perfect man? Of course not.

On Monday, he was in Tulsa, Okla., meeting with his doctors and good friend John Lucas. The doctors want to figure out how to make Sutton’s back better. Lucas, the former Maryland All-American and NBA coach and a survivor of his own drug-abuse demons, is there to help Sutton plot his course through alcohol rehabilitation.

Again.

The DUI charge Sutton faces stems from a crash he had Feb. 10 while heading to the airport to join the Cowboys on a trip. Sutton entered alcohol rehab once before, nearly 20 years ago, after his coaching job at Kentucky ended under a cloud of NCAA violations and probation.

And so it might seem this man is not made of Hall of Fame stuff, character or coaching ability. If he cheated at Kentucky, might he have cheated somewhere else? He can’t conquer his alcohol demons, so why is he leading young men?

It’s easier to blame and harder to listen.

The culture of Kentucky, where alumni crowded the postgame locker room, where the “hundred-dollar handshake” was winked at, where basketball players held summer jobs at thoroughbred farms (more winks), didn’t start when Sutton arrived. Sutton didn’t clean up the mess, but it wasn’t a mess he created.

Alcohol is a problem. Sutton stood up and admitted this to his family, his team, his school last week. He apologized for getting behind the wheel of a car.

It is in recounting his father’s public confession that Sean Sutton’s voice breaks.

“It is hard,” Sean said, “because my dad knows how many people he has let down. This last week? It’s been so hard for so many people. My family, my team. My dad.”

Sean, who will become permanent coach when his father retires, said he didn’t excuse Eddie’s drinking and that it saddened him. He said he wanted his father to retire after last season.

“But he knew we’d struggle this year,” Sean said, “and he didn’t want me to take the losses. I kept telling him I could handle it.”

Sutton ranks fifth in NCAA Division I coaching victories, trailing only Dean Smith (879), Adolph Rupp (876), Bob Knight (867) and Jim Phelan (830), all Hall of Famers.

“My dad took over a Creighton program that wasn’t much and got them to the Sweet 16,” Sean said. “He went to Arkansas that had no tradition and made them into a top-10 power, goes to four Sweet 16s, goes to the Final Four. He goes to Kentucky, wins two [Southeastern Conference] titles, goes to two Sweet 16s in four years.

“But more than any, what he has done at Oklahoma State should put him in the hall. Before my dad got there, they had been to the NCAA tournament once in 25 years. Within five years, he went to three Sweet 16s. He took them to the Final Four, to the NCAA tournament 13 times in 15 years. Look where he ranks in all-time wins, in NCAA tournament appearances (tied for third), in 20-win seasons (tied for fifth).

“He’s done it over the long haul, through rules changes, the three-point shot coming in, the shot clock, all those things. Kids have changed tremendously; they’re not the same as 30 years ago, but my dad adapts. So look at those things too.

“The mistakes are out there, no hiding. But the good things should be out there too.”

Biased opinion? Of course. Emotional? Absolutely. But eloquent and true and justified regarding a Hall-of-Fame-worthy father too.

Breakfast for Champions

Of course it’s coincidence.

That Lawrence College’s NCAA Division III team had a breakfast meeting with UCLA legend John Wooden in Encino in December has nothing to do with the Vikings’ completing Saturday their first undefeated regular season since 1913-14.

The team from Appleton, Wis., is 22-0 and also well-versed in the salient points of Wooden’s Pyramid of Success principles. Go figure. The Vikings are also the only undefeated college men’s basketball team at any level this season.

“It’s quite an accomplishment for any team to go undefeated,” the 95-year-old Wooden said. “But I don’t believe I should get any credit.”

So let Lawrence Coach John Tharp give it.

“It was a wonderful meeting,” said Tharp, who as a 17-year-old worked one of Wooden’s camps. “We were in Huntington Beach to play in Vanguard’s tournament. My old high school coach [Tom Desotell] urged me to call Coach Wooden and bring the team to meet him. So I did. I called him at home and Coach Wooden answered. Now you know college kids. You tell them they have to be up at 6 a.m. and they’re not happy. But they were so excited for that wake-up call because we were driving up to meet Coach Wooden.”

The Vikings play in the Midwest Conference and had no reason to expect that they would be undefeated after losing five seniors that led the Vikings to a 20-6 record and the NCAA tournament a year ago and to the Division III Elite Eight two years ago.

Lawrence is a liberal arts school of 1,400 students. Athletic Director Bob Beeman is quick to say, “We’re rated one of the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the country.”

On a level where no scholarships are offered, Tharp notes that his star, Chris Braier, is a biology major headed to law school, that Kyle MacGillis will be off to medical school after the season, that Keven Bradley is going to be a teacher, and that Ben Klekamp, another biology major, will pursue medical research after graduation.

Which doesn’t mean this is a bunch of nerds who can’t keep a dribble lower than their chin.

“We can play,” Braier said. “We aren’t the biggest or fastest guys, and all of us came here to get a great education. But we can play.”

Though only 36, Tharp is in his 12th season as Lawrence’s coach.

“When I came here,” he said, “I thought I’d be here two, three years, turn things around and move up. But I got married, had a baby, and life perspective changes, you know? This is a great place to live, to raise a family. It’s a wonderful university. I have what I need here.”

The Vikings completed the regular season Saturday in front of a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,400 with a 67-52 win over St. Norbert College. It was 20 degrees below zero at game time, and Tharp had been afraid nobody would come to mark the historic occasion.

“But it was crazy,” Tharp said. “The place was packed.”

Tharp’s team was losing, 38-31, at halftime. “I don’t know if stuff was getting to us,” Braier said, “but at halftime the coaches left us alone and the players handled things.”

The biggest win of the season came Feb. 15 at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis. Carroll was ranked No. 14, and the Vikings escaped with a 64-63 win on a layup by Bradley as the buzzer went off.

“I trust our kids to make the right play,” Tharp said, “and they did.”

In history, there have been six Division I teams that went undefeated, three in Division II and three in Division III.

“Let’s not even think about that,” Tharp said. “We’re just looking for the conference tournament next.”

Here and There

Here in the newspaper sports pages, we’re not always eager to give credit to the hot, hip, it’s everywhere ESPN. But last weekend’s TV-named, TV-themed “BracketBuster” games featuring mid-major colleges was a pleasure.

Watching Northern Iowa twice come from behind in overtime to beat Bucknell in overtime? Goosebumps galore.

Who knew George Mason is 21-5? A lot more of us after we saw the Patriots beat Wichita State, 70-67, in Wichita, Kan. The Patriots celebrated like it was 1776.

“What it did,” said Missouri State Coach Barry Hinson, “is you have people sitting in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, watching us play in Milwaukee, and all of a sudden we feel like we’re in the thick of things.”

If you’re trying to figure out why you’ve never heard of Missouri State, it’s because Missouri State used to be Southwest Missouri State. Charlie Spoonhour coached at Southwest Missouri State. Jackie Stiles played at Southwest Missouri State.

“Yeah, we’re still trying to re-brand ourselves,” Hinson said.

And the re-branding is going well. The Bears won at Wisconsin Milwaukee last weekend and are 18-7. “We’d like to hear our name in the NCAA tournament,” Hinson said. It might happen. ...

Arizona State’s Kevin Kruger is averaging 40.8 minutes over the Sun Devils’ last 10 games. Not bad since a regulation game lasts 40 minutes. But Kruger played all 50 minutes of Arizona State’s double-overtime upset of California last week.