OSU basketball: Eddie Sutton was a 'Hall of Fame friend'

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When Harry Birdwell moved back to Stillwater in 1989 to become his alma mater’s vice president of public affairs, he moved about four doors down from Henry Iba on Woodland Court. Ol’ Doc Cooper lived close by. Talk about thick orange blood. Maybe the three most passionate Cowboys ever.

Stillwater’s a cool place. You can conduct business on neighborhood sidewalks. Birdwell had been on the job about six months when one evening, Iba walked down the street with Eddie Sutton in tow.

“Harry,” Iba told Birdwell, “I want you to know Eddie, because I’m really interested in getting him back here as men’s basketball coach.”

Funny to think about now, that anyone had to sell OSU on Sutton. But 30 years ago this spring, that’s exactly what happened, and Iba needed Birdwell to put in a good word with then-OSU president John Campbell.

Birdwell did just that. He said he told Campbell the next day, “John, I don’t know how long you’ll be the president, but this hire may come as close to defining your tenure as anything you do.”

Campbell indeed hired Sutton, and you know the rest. The revival of Cowboy basketball. A transformed athletic department. An unsurpassed OSU legend. Sutton died Saturday at the age of 84, the most adored Cowboy of them all.

What also sprouted was a friendship. Birdwell and Sutton became fast friends, even before Birdwell was OSU’s athletic director from 2002-05.

I called Birdwell on Tuesday to talk about Sutton; the memories and emotion came pouring out.

“For 15 years at OSU, I had day to day contact with him,” Birdwell said. “I got to know him well and see inside, see him at his most vulnerable times.

“I knew him as a person who adored his spouse. Patsy was his North Star.

“I knew him as a man who loved his children. I know he told them so, so they’d be sure of it, almost daily.

“He was an enthralling storyteller, who … shared all the greats he had known through the years, and he was an incredible basketball historian.”

Birdwell told the story of years ago, Sutton saying he wanted to draw Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament, “because they’ve got a freshman point guard who’s going to be one of the best ever.” The luck of the draw didn’t go Sutton’s way. He didn’t get to coach against Chris Paul.

Birdwell recalled an off-season when Sutton was away from the office for a few days for a trip to Washington, D.C. When he returned, he sported a black tie with orange saxophones. Birdwell asked Sutton about the necktie.

It came from the president. President Clinton. The Suttons had visited the White House; even stayed in the Lincoln Bedroom.

“The kind of stuff he experienced was extraordinary,” Birdwell said. “He didn’t seek the spotlight. He sort of ran from it, but the spotlight chased him every day of his life.”

Birdwell and Sutton talked Cardinals baseball — Eddie and Patsy Sutton honeymooned in St. Louis and took in a game at old Sportsman’s Park.

Birdwell and Sutton talked politics. “He was a guy who didn’t get actively involved in politics day to day, for obvious reasons,” Birdwell said. “But he was such a keen observer. He knew and understood the political process and legislative process. He had an opportunity to know and be around presidents and senators and major business leaders all over the country.”

Indeed, a reader emailed me Tuesday, saying he saw Sutton in the Payne County Courthouse in 2004, with 10 of his players. He had brought them there to register to vote.

Birdwell and Sutton talked movies. “He was a tremendous movie critic,” Birdwell said. “He was better than any movie critic on the network level. If you would listen to an Eddie Sutton movie review, you’d know a lot about it.”

After OSU beat Saint Joseph’s to reach the 2004 Final Four, Sutton seemed as excited about meeting actor Tim Robbins as winning the East Regional.

And Birdwell was there during Sutton’s darkest times. The 2001 plane crash that killed 10 men in OSU’s traveling party. The 2006 drunk-driving crash that ended Sutton’s Cowboy career.

“He was a man, especially as he aged, who understood his frailties,” Birdwell said. “And if he ever took you into his confidence, you knew how much a part of every breath his frailties were on his own mind.

“In those quiet times after hours, when we’d just sit and visit, we talked about everything from life and death and eternity, and I think even since he retired, the older he got, the greater his appreciation of God’s grace and forgiveness.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever know a guy quite like him. I’m just grateful to know that he’s gone to glory. And he was a Hall of Fame friend.”

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at oklahoman.com/berrytramel.

Related Photos

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Eddie Sutton and Harry Birdwell enjoy some laughs during a pep rally at Gallagher-Iba Arena the day after OSU reached the 2004 Final Four. [Oklahoman archives]
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Eddie Sutton hoists the net after OSU beat Texas Tech in 2005 for the Big 12 Tournament title in Kansas City, Mo. [OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]