Big 12 Preview: Oklahoma State’s Burning Question
Posted by Nate Kotisso on October 28th, 2015This team preview is part of the RTC Big 12 microsite’s preseason coverage.
Burning Question: Will Travis Ford still coach Oklahoma State a year from now?
The year 2000 was solid, by most accounts. Y2K was overrated; civilization moved on. Al Gore was about to rock America’s world as the 43rd president. Supercompanies America Online and Time Warner, merged to form a global Internet partnership that would most definitely last for decades. Oklahoma State basketball was in pretty good shape as well. Eddie Sutton began his 11th season at his alma mater with little to complain about. The Cowboys had reached eight NCAA Tournaments in Sutton’s first 10 seasons in Stillwater, a run that had included a Final Four, two Elite Eights and four Sweet Sixteens. Sutton’s success would continue into the early 2000s, where he would guide the Cowboys to five more Tournaments, the most memorable of which would end in the 2004 Final Four. But all of this success occurred before the night of February 10, 2006 — perhaps the date at which Oklahoma State basketball started heading south.
That was the night when Sutton was arrested and charged for driving under the influence. With a blood alcohol level (0.22) nearly three times the legal limit in Oklahoma, Sutton drove his SUV “across four lanes of traffic, slammed into the back of another car and then crashed into a tree.” Three days later, the university named Eddie’s son, Sean Sutton, as his interim replacement. Four months after that, as the Hall of Famer sought treatment for alcohol abuse, the younger Sutton was named his father’s permanent replacement. Sean Sutton lasted less than two full years as the head man in Stillwater, with the school forcing his resignation in April 2008 after two subpar seasons that ended in the first round of the NIT. On April 17 of that same year, Oklahoma State hired a new head coach that did not include the last name Sutton: UMass’ Travis Ford.