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Why is Eddie Sutton not in the Hall of Fame?

Dobsie

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Someone officially connected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame should muster the guts to explain why Eddie Sutton has not been selected for induction.

The problem is, from whom would you request a statement? The Hall of Fame doesn’t divulge the identities of its voters.

In 2016, there was this great Washington Post headline: “Want to know who votes for Basketball Hall of Fame? None of your business.”


Post columnist John Feinstein described the Naismith Hall of Fame as “perhaps the least transparent organization in sports.”

Most Heisman Trophy voters reveal their choices after the fact, but there is no such accountability with the basketball Hall of Fame. No explanation why Sutton remains the only men’s college coach with at least 800 victories, but without Hall of Fame membership.

With 806, Sutton is one of only eight coaches to have reached the 800-win mark. There were three Final Four appearances (one at Arkansas and two at Oklahoma State). At four different schools, there were a total of 26 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Go to the Naismith Hall of Fame website and do searches on the names Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Jim Calhoun, Adolph Rupp and Roy Williams. Those are the other seven coaches with at least 800 wins, and each is a Hall of Fame member.

Try a search on the name Eddie Sutton. This is the response: “We’re sorry, but we could not find any hall of famers related to the keyword eddie sutton.”

Sutton was a Hall of Fame finalist five times — most recently in 2016 — but failed on each occasion to get the minimum number of votes. From a top-secret panel of 24 selectors, a candidate must get at least 18 votes. Sutton is not a finalist this year.

Presumably, Sutton’s Hall of Fame candidacy is damaged because, during the late ’80s, the Kentucky program got into trouble under his watch.

A Wildcat assistant coach was accused of having mailed cash to the father of a recruit. Sutton himself was not implicated in the NCAA’s decision to punish Kentucky with a three-year probation.

Imagine the reaction in 1989 if NCAA investigators were told that in 2017-18, FBI agents would be involved in the attempted clean-up of college basketball.

Cheating is not a fresh phenomenon.

With 876 victories, Rupp is in the Hall of Fame. He was the Kentucky coach for 42 years, but actually coached 41 seasons. Because of NCAA sanctions that resulted from three players having been implicated in a point-shaving scandal, the Wildcat program was inactive during the 1952-53 season. Didn’t play a single game.

Sixty-five years ago, there was a one-season death penalty of sorts for Kentucky, but Rupp is a celebrated figure in the Hall of Fame. Rupp surely wasn’t aware that his players were associating with gamblers, just like the NCAA determined that Sutton apparently wasn’t aware that an assistant was a dirty recruiter.

More recently, because of violations, the 1996 UMass and 2008 Memphis teams aren’t formally recognized by the NCAA as having made Final Four appearances. Both squads were coached by John Calipari, who now is at Kentucky — and in the Hall of Fame.

Rick Pitino also is in the Hall of Fame. He was inducted in September 2013 — six months after the Cardinals captured the national title, and during a period when, it was later determined by the NCAA, a Louisville assistant provided prostitutes and strippers to players and recruits.

After it was alleged that he had knowledge of a planned $100,000 payment to the family of a recruit, Pitino was fired in October.

Last week, Louisville’s 2013 championship was erased from the NCAA record book.

Today, 81-year-old Eddie Sutton still is not a member of the basketball Hall of Fame. It’s an inexplicable insult to him and his body of work, and you have to presume that there is an anti-Sutton agenda within the Hall of Fame culture.

If you’re waiting for clarity from someone involved in the voting process, don’t hold your breath.

Tulsa World Link
 
When did Eddie Sutton age like 30 years overnight? He looks 111, not 81. Doesn't even look like the same guy.
maxresdefault.jpg

sutton10.jpg

I remember when he looked like this what seemed like not very long ago:
52377368.jpg
 
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Arkansas shine really wore on him.

Joking aside, he and Gillispie are the only two coaches to not win a title at UK since Rupp. (alcohol related? hmm?)

Rupp, Hall, Pitino, Smith, Calipari all won titles with UK's resources.
 
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When did Eddie Sutton age like 30 years overnight? He looks 111, not 81. Doesn't even look like the same guy.
maxresdefault.jpg

sutton10.jpg

I remember when he looked like this what seemed like not very long ago:
52377368.jpg

He’s had a lot of health problems especially since his wife passed away. He doesn’t walk as much anymore. I’ve mostly seen him in a wheelchair.
 
Arkansas shine really wore on him.

Joking aside, he and Gillispie are the only two coaches to not win a title at UK since Rupp. (alcohol related? hmm?)

Rupp, Hall, Pitino, Smith, Calipari all won titles with UK's resources.


To my knowledge my friend Joe B. Hall is not in the hall of fame and he can coach circles around Sutton.

I don't think that Sutton has earned it. Also I don't think that Chaney should be there either.
 
The answer why he is not in the HOF is well documented. He got caught peeing in public. The crime was because he didn't have his golf bag with him. Everyone knows golfers can pee at public trees.

There are people less deserving in the HOF. And there will be people admitted in the future with less credentials. Apparently he just accomplished a lot while flying under the radar of the snobs that run the HOF.
 
Arkansas shine really wore on him.

Joking aside, he and Gillispie are the only two coaches to not win a title at UK since Rupp. (alcohol related? hmm?)

Rupp, Hall, Pitino, Smith, Calipari all won titles with UK's resources.


What resources did Coach Smith have of UK?
 
Tubby couldn't handle the pressure and the fan base and looked what happened. Good coach but that was a bad fit.
Out of all the UK coaches, Tubby was probably the most honest one. Tubby had the $ resources, he just choose not to use it.
 
uncfan with the exclusive inside look inside UK's program during the last 20 years. Whats your source bro?

Do you even ever post about UNC?
History is my source. Don’t worry about my post history. There’s a ignore botton you’re more than welcome to use.
 
History is my source. Don’t worry about my post history. There’s a ignore botton you’re more than welcome to use.
Link's to said history? I'd love the story on Pitino and Cal using the war chest that Tubby chose not to. Surely links shouldn't be too difficult to provide, since history is recorded and we are living in the digital age. Surely you're not a grown man on the internet spouting BS and conjecture as truths? You're so pathetic it is entertaining.

And why would I ignore someone who is so clearly more obsessed with my favorite team than I am?
 
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Link's to said history? I'd love the story on Pitino and Cal using the war chest that Tubby chose not to. Surely links shouldn't be too difficult to provide, since history is recorded and we are living in the digital age. Surely you're not a grown man on the internet spouting BS and conjecture as truths? You're so pathetic it is entertaining.

And why would I ignore someone who is so clearly more obsessed with my favorite team than I am?
Shouldn’t you be watching your favorite team on TV? Wanna bet they’re shooting free throws?
 
Shouldn’t you be watching your favorite team on TV? Wanna bet they’re shooting free throws?
Weak deflection man, just weak.

I hope you're still in high school, you suck at trying to prove a point. You'll get better in time, don't worry.

And what gave you the impression I'm not watching the game? I can multi-task, another skill you'll hopefully pick up as you mature.
 
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