JimBob
03-19-2008, 07:38 AM
Rumors ease in like lambs, flare like lions
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
3/19/2008
COLLEGE HOOPS JUNKIES understand that the true madness of March doesn't get under way with Thursday's opening games of the men's NCAA Tournament.
It's already raging. And it won't end until several days after that one shining moment in San Antonio on April 7, when the 2008 national champion is crowned.
The true insanity in college basketball, of course, is the number of job changes that occur each season. That annual madness is fueled by rumors throughout the season.
"Coaches," said a former coach last week at the Big 12 Conference Tournament, "are worse than old women when it comes gossiping and rumors."
In defense of elderly women everywhere, let it be known that I firmly believe coaches and media members are both in a gossiping league way beyond people of any age or gender.
And speculation from both groups has already centered on three of four Division I coaches in this state -- Oklahoma State's Sean Sutton, Oklahoma's Jeff Capel and Oral Roberts' Scott Sutton.
The start of all three tournaments (NCAA, NIT and CBI) this week will only intensify matters, because a team's next loss is its last. And that will start questions about those coaches' futures.
Here are the latest updates on the three in-state coaches:
SEAN SUTTON: I wrote last week that I couldn't recall a school firing a coach after just two seasons. Well, Idaho changed that Tuesday when it canned George Pfeifer, who went 12-48 in two seasons with the Vandals.
Sutton's two-year mark at OSU was 39-28 going into Tuesday night's first-round NIT game at Southern Illinois. While that's considerably better than Pfeifer's record, only one person knows if it's good enough to get Sutton a third season in Stillwater.
The rest of us will find out once billionaire OSU booster Boone Pickens calls athletic director Mike Holder and gives him the thumbs up or thumbs down on Sutton.
OSU has a lot of folks with fancy titles like President, Board of Regents, Athletic Director, etc. But it's become obvious in the Sutton saga that it's Pickens, much like his good buddy in the White House, who is "the decider."
SCOTT SUTTON: The Suttons have been the first family of basketball in Oklahoma ever since Eddie took over at OSU in 1990 and brought along Sean and Scott to play for the Cowboys.
The Sutton Era in Oklaho ma could end if Sean is fired and his younger brother decides to use his considerable success at ORU to move up the coaching ladder.
Some people close to Scott Sutton have long insisted that the Golden Eagles' coach could have a strong interest in the Texas Christian job if it opened. That happened last Sunday, when Neil Dougherty was fired after six seasons of mediocrity.
ORU fans might ask: "If Scott Sutton turned down the Wichita State job last year, why would he be interested in TCU?"
Good question. But sources with a direct pipeline to Wichita State insist that Sutton was never offered that job. They are adamant that he was a fallback candidate if Gregg Marshall turned it down.
TCU has hired Eastman & Beaudine Inc., to help in its search. I know of at least one former coach who contacted the Dallas-based firm before Dougherty was fired and made a strong pitch for Scott Sutton as the Horned Frogs' next coach.
No, that former coach isn't Eddie Sutton. But you can expect the Sutton brothers' father to be heavily involved in the futures of both his sons if they need his assistance.
That's why I wouldn't rule out Missouri State as a possible destination for one of the two younger Suttons.
Eddie Sutton is well connected with both Missouri State AD Bill Rowe and John Q. Hammons, the school's richest and most-important booster.
JEFF CAPEL: OU's second-year coach has been linked to South Carolina ever since Gamecocks' coach Dave Odom announced last month that he'd retire at season's end.
"You keep hearing that Capel isn't all that happy in Nor man," one Big 12 assistant coach told me last weekend in Kansas City, Mo.
In a Tuesday story in the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier, Capel's name was again on South Carolina's wish list, with this comment: "There is also an alleged rift between Capel and the OU front office."
I assume the "front office" in this case is OU athletic director Joe Castiglione. If so, that would be totally off-base, because Capel and Castiglione have an excellent relationship.
Castiglione is expected to reaffirm his strong commitment to Capel by recommending to the OU Board of Regents that they approve a significant raise for OU's hoops coach once the season's over.
Ah, yes, season's end. As we're about to witness in Oklahoma, that's when the real madness of March begins.
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
3/19/2008
COLLEGE HOOPS JUNKIES understand that the true madness of March doesn't get under way with Thursday's opening games of the men's NCAA Tournament.
It's already raging. And it won't end until several days after that one shining moment in San Antonio on April 7, when the 2008 national champion is crowned.
The true insanity in college basketball, of course, is the number of job changes that occur each season. That annual madness is fueled by rumors throughout the season.
"Coaches," said a former coach last week at the Big 12 Conference Tournament, "are worse than old women when it comes gossiping and rumors."
In defense of elderly women everywhere, let it be known that I firmly believe coaches and media members are both in a gossiping league way beyond people of any age or gender.
And speculation from both groups has already centered on three of four Division I coaches in this state -- Oklahoma State's Sean Sutton, Oklahoma's Jeff Capel and Oral Roberts' Scott Sutton.
The start of all three tournaments (NCAA, NIT and CBI) this week will only intensify matters, because a team's next loss is its last. And that will start questions about those coaches' futures.
Here are the latest updates on the three in-state coaches:
SEAN SUTTON: I wrote last week that I couldn't recall a school firing a coach after just two seasons. Well, Idaho changed that Tuesday when it canned George Pfeifer, who went 12-48 in two seasons with the Vandals.
Sutton's two-year mark at OSU was 39-28 going into Tuesday night's first-round NIT game at Southern Illinois. While that's considerably better than Pfeifer's record, only one person knows if it's good enough to get Sutton a third season in Stillwater.
The rest of us will find out once billionaire OSU booster Boone Pickens calls athletic director Mike Holder and gives him the thumbs up or thumbs down on Sutton.
OSU has a lot of folks with fancy titles like President, Board of Regents, Athletic Director, etc. But it's become obvious in the Sutton saga that it's Pickens, much like his good buddy in the White House, who is "the decider."
SCOTT SUTTON: The Suttons have been the first family of basketball in Oklahoma ever since Eddie took over at OSU in 1990 and brought along Sean and Scott to play for the Cowboys.
The Sutton Era in Oklaho ma could end if Sean is fired and his younger brother decides to use his considerable success at ORU to move up the coaching ladder.
Some people close to Scott Sutton have long insisted that the Golden Eagles' coach could have a strong interest in the Texas Christian job if it opened. That happened last Sunday, when Neil Dougherty was fired after six seasons of mediocrity.
ORU fans might ask: "If Scott Sutton turned down the Wichita State job last year, why would he be interested in TCU?"
Good question. But sources with a direct pipeline to Wichita State insist that Sutton was never offered that job. They are adamant that he was a fallback candidate if Gregg Marshall turned it down.
TCU has hired Eastman & Beaudine Inc., to help in its search. I know of at least one former coach who contacted the Dallas-based firm before Dougherty was fired and made a strong pitch for Scott Sutton as the Horned Frogs' next coach.
No, that former coach isn't Eddie Sutton. But you can expect the Sutton brothers' father to be heavily involved in the futures of both his sons if they need his assistance.
That's why I wouldn't rule out Missouri State as a possible destination for one of the two younger Suttons.
Eddie Sutton is well connected with both Missouri State AD Bill Rowe and John Q. Hammons, the school's richest and most-important booster.
JEFF CAPEL: OU's second-year coach has been linked to South Carolina ever since Gamecocks' coach Dave Odom announced last month that he'd retire at season's end.
"You keep hearing that Capel isn't all that happy in Nor man," one Big 12 assistant coach told me last weekend in Kansas City, Mo.
In a Tuesday story in the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier, Capel's name was again on South Carolina's wish list, with this comment: "There is also an alleged rift between Capel and the OU front office."
I assume the "front office" in this case is OU athletic director Joe Castiglione. If so, that would be totally off-base, because Capel and Castiglione have an excellent relationship.
Castiglione is expected to reaffirm his strong commitment to Capel by recommending to the OU Board of Regents that they approve a significant raise for OU's hoops coach once the season's over.
Ah, yes, season's end. As we're about to witness in Oklahoma, that's when the real madness of March begins.