Eddie Sutton

Eddie Sutton came from a long line of coaches that believed a good defense trumped a good offense any day of the week. His philosophy was rooted in the basics, and he loved to see his players disrupting the passing lanes, playing good help defense, or sacrificing the body to take a charge, a favorite of the old-school coach. The principles worked, so much so that Sutton was the first call a young coach needed to make when defense was on the docket. In a coaching career that spanned five decades, Sutton won 806 games at the Division I level also becoming the first coach in history to take four different schools – Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State – to the NCAA Tournament. The four-time National Coach of the Year led his teams to three appearances in the Final Four, the first coming at the University of Arkansas in 1978. Sutton returned to the national semifinals with the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1995 and 2004.