by Andy Lester
10/12/2011 3:56:00 PM
I suspect everyone in Oklahoma knows the Sean Sutton story. Sean has lived his life in the public eye. It’s been a story of ups and downs. And it’s been a story of facing adversity, dealing with adversity, and overcoming adversity.
Sean has been around basketball his entire life. He grew up in basketball, son of one of the all-time collegiate coaching greats. Before he was 10 years old, Sean watched his dad take a team to the Final Four. And later, as an assistant coach, he twice helped his dad return a team to the Final Four.
He played college basketball at two of the greatest basketball schools, the University of Kentucky and Oklahoma State University. For many years, Sean served as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State, and later spent two years as Head Coach at OSU, his alma mater. In those capacities, he recruited and coached some of the best. More recently, Sean spent last year as an advisor to Oral Roberts University Coach Scott Sutton, and this year will be an assistant coach at ORU.
Sean Sutton is a basketball genius. As exhibit 1, take a look at one game from his second season as head coach at OSU. On February 23, 2008, the University of Kansas basketball squad came to Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater as one of the best teams in the country. Almost everyone expected the Jayhawks to trounce the unranked OSU Cowboys.
But that day, Sean Sutton coached a masterpiece. OSU's team leader picked up his fourth foul only seconds into the second half, leaving Sutton’s team shorthanded. But Sutton was not deterred.
Watching that second half was like seeing a grand master chess player. I remember keeping my eyes on Coach Sutton, watching him move the men on his team across the game surface, getting the most out of each player and each movement of the ball. At the end, Sutton led his team to an exciting 61-60 victory over the eventual national champion Jayhawks.
But his basketball brilliance pales in comparison to the way Sutton has dealt with personal adversity. As a lawyer and a former judge, I've seen many people face similar issues. But rarely have I seen someone do so more honestly and gracefully. I am looking forward to hearing Coach Sean Sutton’s inspirational message when he joins us this week at the Rotary Club of Edmond.
Andy