Sutton, Knight will always be compared to fathers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joey Meyer took another phone call about an issue he's got to be tired of discussing. The first notable son to succeed his father as a college basketball coach, Meyer has become the "go-to guy” when it comes to questions about bequeathing college athletic programs.

With four Division I coaches taking over for their fathers in the last two years, Meyer's phone has been ringing a lot. But the son of Hall of Fame coach Ray Meyer answers, and he answers all the questions about the pressure, and lobbies for coaches' sons to get time to work out the kinks.

"Anything I can do to help those guys out,” said Meyer, now a NBA Developmental League coach in Tulsa.

When Texas Tech and Oklahoma State tip off today at 11:30 a.m. in the Big 12 Tournament, Meyer will be pulling for both Cowboys' coach Sean Sutton (son of 804-win coach Eddie Sutton) and Red Raiders coach Pat Knight (son of Bob Knight, college basketball's all-time victory leader), mostly because he understands the unusual burden they share.

It's never easy to succeed a legend. Sharing the legend's DNA may make it easier to get the job, but it doesn't make it any easier to succeed at it.

ESPN.com's columnist Pat Forde, who wrote a column this winter sarcastically bequeathing his column to his 12 year old son, said the expectations are exponentially higher for sons who take over for their fathers.

"If you're going to put a family-business succession plan in place, it better work,” Forde said via e-mail. "Otherwise you've opened yourself to criticism of all kinds: nepotism, provincialism, failure to perform a thorough search for a replacement and allowing a coach's self interest to override the best interests of the program.”

Said Meyer: "Any time you take over a big-time program there's a lot of pressure, that's just a given. But when you succeed your father there's so much added pressure. Everything is always comparing you to your dad. The questions are always about what you'll do differently. Have you asked him questions? What will be the same? It's a constant comparison.”

Case in point: The first question Sutton was asked during Wednesday's press conference was about the differences between a Pat Knight-led Tech team vs. a Bob Knight