Return to OSU
Sean Sutton, former OSU coach, assistant and son of a legend, returns to Gallagher-Iba Arena.
STILLWATER — Through the heartbreak and turmoil, Sean Sutton has never stopped loving Oklahoma State.
A decade removed from the last of the 17 seasons he committed to the Cowboys, Sutton, the former OSU head coach, the longtime OSU assistant and the son of an OSU legend, returns to Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday, facing the Cowboys there for the first time in his coaching career. As a member of Texas Tech’s coaching staff, he is unsure of how he will be received.
“I never wavered, ever, through everything, my love for Oklahoma State,” Sutton said. “I doubt there’s many people that have ever gone to school there or played a
sport that love Oklahoma State as much as I did and do.
“It’s like family to me.” Fitting, as Sutton’s family is synonymous with OSU basketball. Gallagher-Iba Arena’s white maple court bears his father’s name; Sean split his college career between Kentucky and OSU playing for Eddie before spending 13 years as his assistant and replacing him at the helm. His younger brother is on the coaching staff; Scott is an assistant under OSU coach Mike Boynton after 18 years as Oral Roberts’ coach, the latter seven with Sean at his side.
Sean Sutton has spent this season advising Texas Tech coach Chris Beard, a friend of about 20 years, helping guide the Red Raiders to Big 12 title contention.
To Sutton, Wednesday’s game carries stakes far beyond his return. The Red Raiders enter half a game behind Kansas for
first place in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have won a share of the Big 12 title for 13 straight years. Sutton takes great pride in being on OSU’s staff in 2004, when a non-Kansas team last finished atop the conference.
That season, the Suttons led the Cowboys to their second Final Four in a decade. Four years later, neither of them were part of the program.
Sutton officially replaced his father ahead of the 2006-07 season. After coaching the Cowboys to a 39-29 record and a pair of NIT appearances in two years, he resigned.
With a family of five embedded in Stillwater, Sutton and his wife, Trena, elected to stay. Remaining in the community he gave so much to weighed on him.
He spent two years out of coaching while battling an addiction to prescription painkillers.
“The separation from Oklahoma State, it was painful,” Sutton said. “It basically ripped my heart apart because of how much I loved Oklahoma
State.
“Some ways, it was like losing a family member . ... Living in Stillwater was just a constant reminder of what had happened.”
With time and support, he recovered, joining his brother’s staff at ORU.
“He’s a fighter,” Scott Sutton said. “He’s been a fighter all his life. He’s had to fight his way back and work his way back in this profession.”
The duo coached a pair of games in GIA in 2011 as part of the preseason NIT, but neither was against OSU.
It was the first time Sean Sutton had been in the arena since clearing out the head coach’s office.
“I’m sure it’ll be an emotional night for Sean,” Scott Sutton said. “I hope our fans, and I know they will, I hope they’ll give him a great applause ’cause he deserves it. Besides my dad, and I really believe this, he probably deserves as much credit as anybody else for getting this program to where it was.”
Now and then, Sean Sutton’s mind recalls moments and games from his time at OSU, making the past 10 years somehow seem shorter. The Cowboys made the NCAA Tournament once in the 25 seasons before the Suttons arrived; they made six Sweet 16s in Sean’s 17 years.
“It was an electric atmosphere every time we played,” he said. “Oklahoma State has got tremendous basketball fans . ... A lot of those things come back from time to time, just the great memories, the great moments that I enjoyed at Oklahoma State.”
Sutton’s final two years at OSU remain his only seasons as a head coach. Focused on helping Beard and the Red Raiders win the Big 12, he does not know what his future holds. He said he can accept his time at OSU being his only opportunity.
Sutton will enter Gallagher-Iba Arena as a visitor Wednesday, tasked again with trying to win in the arena he always thought of as home.