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Eddie Sutton Once Again Snubbed as HOF Finalist

What’s a guy gotta do to get in the Hall of Fame?

By Tyler Wiederhoeft
NCAA 1st Round: Eastern Washington v Oklahoma State Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Yes, you read that right.

Once again, Eddie Sutton, famed Arkansas and Oklahoma State basketball coach, will not be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class.

Sutton earned a career head coaching record of 806-326 (.712) while coaching at College of Southern Idaho, Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, OSU, and a brief stint as interim head coach at San Francisco.

So why does the Basketball HOF refuse to #PutEddieIn? It isn’t like he is lacking in accomplishments.

  • 3 Final Four appearances - Arkansas (1) and Oklahoma State (2)
  • 9 Conference titles - SWC (5), SEC (1), Big Eight (2), Big 12 (1)
  • 7 Conference Tournament titles - SWC (3), SEC (1), Big Eight (1), Big 12 (2)
  • 2x AP College Coach of the Year
  • NABC Coach of the Year
  • Henry Iba Award
  • 4x SWC Coach of the Year
  • SEC Coach of the Year
  • Big Eight Coach of the Year
  • 2x Big 12 Coach of the Year
  • College Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee

So, why isn’t the namesake of Gallagher-Iba Arena’s court in the Basketball Hall of Fame?

Is it the fact that he never won a championship? There are other coaches who have made it into the HOF without a championship.

Is it because he was at the center of some controversy? If this is the case, Louisville’s Rick Pitino should be removed from the Hall of Fame. (I chose Pititno because he was the first one that came to mind - there are tons of others.)

Is it because he doesn’t have enough wins? This is ridiculous. Over 800 wins? Bill Self has 615 and he is a finalist this year.

What logical argument does the Basketball Hall of Fame have against rewarding Eddie Sutton with one of the greatest things anyone associated with the game of basketball dreams of earning?

Almost 13 months ago, former Cowboy great Doug Gottlieb wrote an open letter about Sutton not making it into the HOF. I encourage you all to read it again. It still rings true today.

Coach Sutton’s health is failing. We all know that. Nobody knows how much longer he has before leaving this Earth. Hasn’t he done enough to earn that call? It would be a damn shame if he goes to the grave without first receiving the call saying he has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

#PutEddieIn

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