Sutton

[50's PONY]

Sean Sutton would consider right opportunity
2004-02-28
By Mike Baldwin
The Oklahoman


It’s not a question of if Oklahoma State assistant basketball coach Sean Sutton will become a head coach. The question is when and where.
• Lucas braces for some booing
• Report: Dickey candidate at A&M

SMU fired Mike Dement on Friday. Early reports indicate Sutton is on SMU’s list of candidates, but he said he has not been contacted. A source said Sutton would be “extremely interested” if SMU were to approach him.

Okla. St. at Baylor

When: 3 p.m. today.
Where: Ferrell Center.

Rankings: OSU is ranked No. 6 by AP and the coaches. Baylor is not ranked.

Radio: KOMA-FM 92.5.

TV: KOCB-34 (Cox channel 11).

Scouting Baylor

Last time out: Defeated Texas A&M 67-61 in OT.

Odds and ends: Baylor is 6-9 at home. ... The Bears are last in the Big 12 in scoring (64.6), 3-point field goal percentage (31.2) and rebounding margin (-1.9). ... R.T. Guinn, a returning starter is averaging 9.5 points off the bench. ... Baylor has seven scholarship players, five walk-ons.

Scouting OSU

Last time out: Lost to Missouri 93-92 in double OT.

Odds and ends: The Cowboys shot below 50 percent in back-to-back games and dropped to third nationally in field goal percentage (51.4). ... OSU is fifth nationally in scoring margin (16.5). ... John Lucas is averaging 18.3 points in conference games. ... Tony Allen grabbed a season-high nine rebounds against Missouri.

NEXT THREE GAMES

Monday: Texas at OSU, 8 p.m.

March 6: Texas A&M at OSU, 12:45 p.m.

March 12: Big 12 tournament in Dallas, TBA.


“At this point in the season, I’m not worried about (job opportunities),” Sutton said. “I’m not going to let my mind wander toward things that can’t be controlled. I want to do everything I can to help this team play at a high level and finish strong in the NCAA Tournament.”

Sutton could be the ideal choice to replace Eddie Sutton, 67, after the coach retires. Even some skeptics are convinced, thanks to No. 6-ranked OSU’s remarkable season that continues today at Baylor.

Eddie Sutton is expected to coach next year, and possibly two or three seasons after that. So what happens if Sean Sutton, 35, is offered a job this spring? Under that scenario, another school could likely ask Sean Sutton to sign a long-term deal, preventing him from quickly returning to OSU.

“If the right job opens up and they’re interested in me, I would consider it strongly,” Sean said. “If it’s a place I feel I can win, a place you can develop a strong interest in basketball, and it’s a good fit for my family, if all three of those things are ‘Yes,’ then certainly I would be interested.”

One solution would be for athletic director Harry Birdwell to announce Sean Sutton will be OSU’s next coach. While impressed with Sean Sutton, Birdwell said that would be and extremely rare move.

“Sean is a great young coach,” Birdwell said. “He does an incredible job with scouting reports and motivating players. He’s a great tactician, a great X’s and O’s coach. But we’re not going to discuss personnel on the front page of the newspaper. When the timing is right, the right thing will be done to get the best coach to succeed Eddie.”

Whether Sean Sutton is approached with a job offer in March or April remains to be seen.

Most in the business agree Sean is ready to run his own program after spending 11 seasons on his father’s staff.

“I think Sean is the heir apparent who should automatically get the job when Eddie steps down,” ESPN analyst [deleted] Vitale said. “Sometimes we look for the magical guy from another school. Pittsburgh didn’t want to hire Jamie Dixon. Look at Pittsburgh now.”

Said fellow OSU assistant coach James Dickey, who was head coach at Texas Tech for 10 years: “I don’t think it’s even a question if Sean is ready or not. Sean would be great. He’s a student of the game and has a great understanding of the game. “I don’t say (he’s ready) because I’ve known him since he was very young. I say that because of how impressed I’ve been coaching against him and coaching with him. He’s involved in every aspect of this program.”

Said Eddie Sutton, “Too often head coaches get too much credit. I’ve got the best coaching staff in America. Sean coaches more than half the time on the floor.”

Unlike some coaches, Eddie Sutton delegates responsibilities to his assistants. Sean Sutton, though, might have more responsibilities than any assistant in America.

The past four seasons, Sean Sutton has been, to use a football term, OSU’s offensive coordinator. He calls nearly every play on offense. Sean Sutton also often devises game plans for big games such as Oklahoma, Kansas or Texas. Eddie Sutton estimates Sean Sutton watched 25 hours of tape to prepare a 20-page scouting report for the Bedlam rematch Feb. 16 in Norman.

For years, some Cowboy fans dreamed of former OSU player Bill Self returning to his alma mater. Now that Self is at Kansas, it’s doubtful he would be a candidate to replace Eddie Sutton.

“(Sean) deserves to be the next coach whenever that time is,” Self said. “I haven’t been around Sean in a coaching capacity, but he has had so many responsibilities he’s well-prepared. I coached Sean. I know he’s very, very bright. I can’t imagine that he’s not very, very solid in all areas.”





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© The Oklahoma Publishing Co. and its subsidiary, NewsOK.com.
Article may be downloaded for personal use or research but not

[Higher Authority]

I have to admit that as fun as it was to heckle him as a player, he's becoming more and more appealing to me. The name alone, and having been around his dad all his life, have to carry some weight, with the fans, the players, the high school coaches (he recruits DFW for OSU) and with recruits. I'm not ready to tag this guy as my top choice, but he certainly has a lot of appeal.