Sutton Named to Naismith Hall of Fame

Mike Cawood April 4, 2020

FAYETTEVILLE – Former Arkansas head men’s basketball coach Eddie Sutton was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced today.

Sutton and fellow members of the Class of 2020 are scheduled to be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., the Birthplace of Basketball, August 28-30, 2020.

Sutton spent 36 years as an NCAA Division I basketball coach and became the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA Tournament. He is a four-time National Coach of the Year (1977, 1978, 1986, 1995) and eight-time Conference Coach of the Year (1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1998, 2004). He compiled a career coaching record of 806-326 at Creighton (1969-74), Arkansas (1974-85), Kentucky (1985-1989), Oklahoma State (1990-2006) and San Francisco (2007-08).

In 1974, Sutton took over the Arkansas program and, over the next 11 seasons, he compiled a record of 260-75, including five Southwest Conference championships, nine NCAA Tournament appearances and a Final Four appearance in 1978. Sutton helped lead the Razorbacks to national prominence, including coaching the famed Triplets – Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer, and Marvin Delph – Joe Kleine, Scott Hastings, Alvin Robertson, Darrell Walker, and numerous other Razorback greats.

His Arkansas winning percentage of .776 is the highest in the history of the Southwest Conference. He is a member of both the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame. In 2011, Sutton was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo. In 2016, the University of Arkansas honored Sutton with a banner in Bud Walton Arena.

Last May, the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to name the men’s practice gym at the University of Arkansas’ Basketball Performance Center in Sutton’s honor.

Sutton is the third representative from the University of Arkansas in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and second in as many years. Last year’s class included Sidney Moncrief while Nolan Richardson, who followed Sutton as Razorback head coach, was inducted in 2014.

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