Sean Sutton is tough enough to take the heat, and then some
Sean Sutton is tough enough to take the heat, and then some

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John Rohde

Published: February 23, 2008

STILLWATER — Roughly 90 seconds after today's opening tip against visiting Kansas, Sean Sutton will look like a man who just stepped out of a sauna wearing business attire. The talented Jayhawks have put quite a few opposing coaches through the ringer, but it actually doesn't matter what team Sutton is facing.

The man was in full flop-sweat against East Tennessee State last December.

But beneath those overtaxed sweat glands lurks one tough hombre.

The Oklahoma State men's basketball coach has sweated his way through some pretty tough times:

•Sutton endured an NCAA investigation while playing for his father, Eddie, at Kentucky.

•As an OSU player, Sean Sutton played his final game in — of all places — Lexington, Ky. He nearly led the Cowboys to an upset victory over Michigan's Fab Five in a Southeast Regional semifinal at Rupp Arena, the same facility where he was booed mercilessly during his sophomore season three years earlier while playing for UK.

•Sutton endured the sorrow of the OSU plane crash seven years ago.

•He took over the program amid his father's embarrassing fall from grace two years ago this month.

If Sean Sutton was able to endure all that, he's certainly capable of handling innuendo concerning his job security.

Kansas coach Bill Self was an assistant at OSU during Sutton's playing days (1990-92) with the Cowboys.

Self noticed no chinks in Sutton's armor when he arrived to play point guard for his father.

Self said he did not sense Sean Sutton was psychologically damaged after all the turmoil at Kentucky.

"No, never did,” Self said. "Hey, Sean's tough.”

Baby brother Scott Sutton, who also played two seasons for his father at OSU, has long marveled at big brother's fortitude.

"Sean's as tough as anybody I've been around,” said Scott, who is in his ninth season as head coach at Oral Roberts. "I was worried about him a little bit (after Kentucky), but at the same time I knew he would fight through it.

"Sean's a fighter. He's always battled through adversity and he's always been better because of it.”

The Cowboys ride a two-game winning streak into today's 3 p.m. game against KU inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. (In a season such as this, yes, two games constitute a "streak.”)

This streak has helped alleviate some of the pressure off Sutton's frontal lobe, but his future remains uncertain.

When Self left Stillwater in 1993 to become head coach at Oral Roberts, it was Sutton who replaced him as an assistant on the OSU staff, coming over from a one-year stint as a Mississippi assistant.

In what would be an awkward twist, if Sutton were to lose his job, those roles potentially could be reversed.

More than a few have ranted about Self possibly replacing Sutton as the Cowboys' coach, a scenario so ludicrous Self won't even acknowledge it.

"I don't know what coaches at other programs are going through,” Self said. "I've got my hands full with my own program. I'm an expert with only one team, and that's ours. And to be honest, some people aren't convinced I'm an expert with our team.”

Criticism of his older brother cuts deep with Scott Sutton.

"Sean's been around coaching all his life. He understands that's all part of the territory,” Scott said. "There's nobody who'll fight more than Sean. He's the biggest competitor I've ever been around. And I've been around some great, great competitors.”

Asked to describe Sean Sutton as a point guard with the Cowboys, Self said, "Smart. A very heady player. He could really run a team and knew where the ball was supposed to go.”

Sounds like the qualities of a head coach.

Related Topics: Basketball, Sports, College Basketball, College Athletics