Common theory says Sean Sutton replacing his father as the OSU trail boss will lead to a smooth transition. That's right, but for the wrong reason. The Cowboys should take to Sean because he's so different from his dad.
The basics will remain the same. Play defense. Don't take bad shots. Take Play-Hard Boulevard or take Greyhound out of town, your choice.
But differences will be more than subtle. OSU will play faster. OSU will play freer. The Eddie Sutton doghouse, in which many a player both good and mediocre found himself, probably has been shuttered.
"Sean can be a little more encouraging," said Scott Pierce, the power forward on OSU's 1995 Final Four team.
Said Stevie Graham, a swingman on OSU's 2004 Final Four team: "I think he'll let guys be a little more free. Old Coach Sutton's old-school. I think it's going to be a little more personable. He can relate a little than better Coach Eddie did."
This is not a discussion of which way is better. This is not right or wrong. It's just different.
Eddie Sutton started coaching during the Eisenhower Administration. That's a long time ago. Sutton changed some with the times, but a guy who came to Stillwater in 1954 to play for Hank Iba can only change so much.
A coach of Eddie Sutton's esteem commands awe. "Coach Sutton had my respect before I even met him," Pierce said. A coach like that can coach a certain, 1959ish way. A coach like that can make Aaron Pettway, a veteran of the United States Army, stand in the corner at practice like a punished first-grader.
Sean Sutton can't coach that way. He's only 38; not so very long ago he was mentor and counselor to Cowboy players, and not too much before that he was an OSU point guard. Sean Sutton is a new-generation coach.
"Everybody has to coach different these days, except a select few," said ex-OSU point guard Brooks Thompson, now the head coach at Texas-San Antonio. "The Bobby Knights, the Coach K's."
That doesn't mean Sean Sutton will go soft. Doesn't mean he won't be demanding. It simply means he must handle players differently than his father. Heck, even Old-School Eddie changed some.
Sutton was harder on his veteran teams than his youthful squads. He rode hard the John Lucas-Graham twins-Ivan McFarlin teams of 2004 and 2005; they were a bunch of 22- and 23-year-old players. Younger squads, he went a little easier on.
But no way will Sean be the taskmaster his father was. No way he can be and no way he should be.
That doesn't mean he won't coach smart. Doesn't mean he just rolls out the ball and says go play. In some ways, Sean will have to coach just as much or more than his father.
"The evolution of the game has changed," said Melvin Sanders, an OSU swingman from 2001-03. Sanders' theory: in the 10 years between OSU's 1995 Final Four team and its great 2005 team, the game got much more athletic but slipped fundamentally. Sanders himself is a prime example; not a particularly skilled ballplayer, Sanders' tremendous athleticism and defense has given him repeated shots at the NBA.
"Probably going to be a little more coaching," Sanders said of Sean's mission. "Sean's definitely going to have his work cut out for him."
But the base is solid, the foundation firm, and here's why. Even those guys rode hard by Old-School Eddie feel fondly about their days at State.
Stevie Graham a case in point. Graham never started for OSU and never tallied big minutes, yet made the NBA last season and is back in training camp with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Graham seemed to stay in Sutton's doghouse. He would have had a more productive career at most any other school. But he says, "I wouldn't take anything back."
Talking well about Sean and feeling well about Eddie, from a guy who had a disappointing career. That's a tremendous sign that OSU basketball has been doing things right.
"I think Sean's going to be a terrific coach," Lucas said. "The coaching staff are excellent recruiters, so there's always going to be players coming in who want to work hard, so I think he's going to do fine."
Fine, but different.
