The Mid-Continent Conference is not a league that gets a lot
of national attention, but that doesn’t mean that there are
not some very good teams and some excellent coaches. One of
those coaches is Oral Roberts’ Scott Sutton. Coach
Sutton has done a great job of continuing to build on what
Bill Self and Barry Hinson started before him. But Scott has
taken the program to a much higher level. In the past two
years, the Golden Eagles have become a mainstay in the
Mid-Major Top 25. In December he received quite a few votes
for the Jim Phelan Mid-Season Coaching Honor. It is certainly
not the last time that Coach Sutton will be mentioned for a
coaching honor.
Coach Sutton is one of 31 coaches that cast a weekly vote in
the Mid-Major Top 25, which has come under some fire of
late. San Diego’s Brad Holland wrote an excellent piece
on the subject of the Mid-Major Top 25 this week and a few
other coaches have told me that they will also be sharing
their thoughts on the credibility of the ranking system.
I will refrain from ranting and raving about this topic, as I
recognize that we have a lot of younger readers on both
CollegeInsider.com and DaveMagarity.com. However, I do want to
make it very clear that coaches everywhere embrace the
Mid-Major Top 25. Frankly I am tired of hearing people express
negative views on the term mid-major and CollegeInsider.com’s
Top 25.
I have news for all those who take shots at its credibility;
it has had a major impact on college basketball. It’s one of
the most creative and revolutionary additions to our game in a
long time. CollegeInsider.com should be commended for creating
something that has proven to be a tremendous and positive
thing for coaches and their programs.
One final note, the next 5-on-5 feature will be with my pal
Dan Dakich, the head coach at Bowling Green. Dan is an
outstanding individual. Dan is a classic in that he tells it
like it is so I am sure everyone will enjoy reading that
little question-and-answer session. And I hope you enjoy the
latest with Scott Sutton.
DAVE MAGARITY: Let's begin with the topic of the Mid-Major
Top 25. There is some thought that it lacks in credibility,
which I find rather amusing. What are your thoughts on
CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25?
SCOTT
SUTTON:
I think it's a great thing. I look forward to
researching the results of the week and finding at more about
the other programs in America. I spend at least an hour each
week gathering information to put together my Top 25. I can't
speak for other coaches, but I take it very seriously. The
Mid-Major Top 25 is definitely a great thing for college
basketball.
MAGARITY: Coach, I don’t think a lot of people realize how
challenging the process of building a program, at any level,
let alone the mid-major level really is. Talk about your
process, which now has Oral Roberts as one of the top
mid-major teams in America.
SUTTON: I was very fortunate to have followed two
outstanding coaches in Coach Bill Self and Barry Hinson. Coach
Self deserves most of the credit for getting Oral Roberts
basketball back on the map. He took the program from the NAIA
level to the NIT in just four years. Barry did a great job the
two years he was here. So my point is the program was in good
shape when I took over. After my first year though, we lost 6
seniors and had two players quit, so my staff and I had to go
out and sign basically a whole new team. Thankfully the 5/8
rule was not in place at that time. The one thing I truly
believe in when you're building a team or a program is you
better do it with high character kids. I'm very proud of the
fact that my staff and I have recruited some very good players
over the last couple of years, but they are better human
beings. Great kids that are talented will win you a bunch of
games, they will represent your program and your university in
the right way, and they will be your best recruiters when it
comes down to selling your program.
MAGARITY: I’ve read where you feel good about the
progress of your program, but that you haven’t lost sight of
the goal of making the NCAA tournament. Has the thought of
facing Oklahoma State in the first round of the tournament
ever crossed your mind and what would that experience would be
like?
SUTTON: It has crossed my mind quite a bit lately. It
would be the only time I would be excited about playing the
Cowboys. It would be a very emotional game for my dad, Sean,
and myself. I coached against them 3 times when I was an
assistant and won once and got beat twice and the experience
was no fun at all for the Sutton family. There is not a bigger
OSU fan than I am, and the same can be said for my family with
ORU.
MAGARITY: With all the coaching experience, I imagine
that the holidays must be interesting coach-talk. Give us a
little insight into the Sutton family coaching discussions.
SUTTON: Normally by Christmas the Cowboys are
undefeated and ranked in the top 10 in every poll and all I
hear from my dad and Sean is how soft their team is and how
bad they are on the defensive end. I tell them to quit whining
and come see my team play if they want to see a bad defensive
team. Then my Mom tells us all to be quiet and come eat.
MAGARITY: I would imagine that being a young coach
really helps you in terms of being able to relate to the
generation of players. It wasn’t that long ago that you were
launching jump shots for your dad.
SUTTON: I think the age of not only myself, but my
entire staff has allowed us to have a great relationship with
our players and also have a great chemistry between our
coaches. Our players and recruits see how we relate to them
and how we understand what they are going through, because it
wasn't that long ago that we were all playing at the college
level.
MAGARITY: You served as an assistant under two great
guys in Bill Self and Barry Hinson. What are some things about
Bill and Barry that most people might not know?
SUTTON: Both are very competitive people. In fact when
Barry and Norm Roberts, and myself were on Coach Self's staff
here at ORU, we used to have some intense two on two games.
Coach Self and I would take on Barry and Norm. Mismatch I
know, but Barry was so competitive that he insisted on keeping
the teams the same. Barry is the only person I know that would
call timeout in a two on two game and try and run a play. Norm
would just tell him to shut up and he would go 1 on 1 which
was their best offense anyway. Barry would take charges and
dive for loose balls which really annoyed Coach Self. The one
thing people may not know about Coach Self is that he is one
of the most superstitious people I have ever been around. The
one thing about Barry is that he claims to be one of the best
barbecuers in the Midwest. I'm sure if you ever get to
Springfield he'll let you find out for yourself.
MAGARITY: Lastly a three-part bonus question, if they
ever made a movie about your dad, what Hollywood actor would
best be able to portray him? Who would play Sean and who would
play you?
SUTTON: Gene Hackman would play my dad. Matt Damon
would play Sean and Ben Affleck would play me. Obviously I
don't know very many actors.
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