Report: Eddie Sutton to Be Inducted into 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame
STILLWATER -- The long wait is finally over for Eddie Sutton. According to a report from Bill Haisten and Frank Bonner of the Tulsa World, former Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton will be a part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 2020 class.
News On 6 sports director John Holcomb has confirmed the news.
This marks Sutton's seventh time as a finalist, being snubbed the past six years.
The official Hall of Fame announcement will take place Saturday, April 4 on ESPN at 11 a.m. The other finalists included in the class will be Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Kim Mulkey, Tamika Catchings, Barbara Stevens and Rudy Tomjanovich.
Going through the record books, there are only 10 coaches throughout the history of Division I basketball to have at least 800 wins and only four of which former major-college men's basketball coaches: Sutton, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith and Bob Knight. Unfortunately, was the only one of the four that hadn't been inducted.
During his 37 year coaching career, Sutton had amassed 806 wins and was the first ever coach to take four teams to the NCAA tournament, as well as one of the few coaches to take teams from two different schools to the Final Four.
During his career, Eddie Sutton was a two-time AP College Coach of the Year, 1978 and 1986, and was the NABC Coach of the Year in 1986. He was also the Southwest Conference Coach of the Year four times (1975, '77, '79 and '81), the SEC Coach of the Year in '86, the Big Eight Coach of the Year in '93 and the Big 12 Coach of the Year in '98.
Sutton was inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
