There was a big, collective, “finally” that was heard throughout the college basketball world this past April, when the announcement was made that former Oklahoma State head basketball coach Eddie Sutton was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Sutton, died May 23, at his home in Tulsa. He was 84.

Sutton had been in failing health for the past several years, and many wondered if he would ever get the call from the Hall of Fame, before he died. Thank goodness he did get in, and was able to show his appreciation for the honor, although he lost his ability to speak a couple years ago. It would have been a travesty if the Hall of Fame had waited until he was gone to honor him. That would have been very upsetting to the Sutton family.

Unfortunately, Sutton didn’t live long enough to witness the actual induction ceremony, which is scheduled for August 29.

However, his family had mentioned previously that he likely wouldn’t have been able to travel to Massachusetts for the event, but may have been able to take part via video.

Sutton and his wife Patsy were married 54 years, until her death in 2013. He is survived by three sons; Stephen, an executive with a financial group, Sean, former OSU head coach and current assistant coach at Texas Tech, and Sean, former head coach at ORU and now assistant at OSU.

Sutton is one of only nine Division-1 coaches to have won at least 800 games. He also was the first to lead four programs to the NCAA Tournament; Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and OSU.

The first time I met Coach Sutton, I was a young radio play-by-play announcer, in my second season of broadcasting the ORU basketball games (1991-92).

It was January 24, 1992, a day after losing to the Sooners in Norman. We arrived on the OSU campus the evening before the game against the Cowboys, and went to Gallagher-Iba arena for practice. When we walked in, the Cowboys were just finishing their practice. Immediately, ORU head coach Ken Trickey took me across the floor to meet two legends of college basketball; Sutton and Henry Iba.

Coach Trickey was not only friends with the two legendary coaches, but he was full of respect for both of them. I remember distinctly, Trickey talking about how amazing a coach Iba was, and how much of a big deal it was when Iba led the USA Olympic team to gold medals in 1964 and 1968, and how the USA team was robbed of a victory against the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summer Games.

During the conversation, I didn’t have much to say. I was 27 years old radio guy, and had no place in trying to interject in a conversation involving these three men. I just stood there and listened politely, and told them what an honor it was to meet them. When it was time to begin the ORU practice, and the meeting of the basketball minds broke up, I did ask Sutton if he would be willing to record an interview with me the next night, to use on my broadcast. He did, and it was great.

After Sutton retired from coaching in 2008, he settled in his home in Tulsa, and while his son Scott was coaching at ORU, Sutton often attended the games at the Mabee Center. That gave me many opportunities to visit with him over the years. He was always very gracious and willing to chat. He still loved watching and talking basketball, but he also enjoyed asking, “how are you?” and “what are you up to these days?”

The last time I saw Sutton was at the FCA luncheon last October, when the keynote speaker was one of Sutton’s former star players, Bill Self. Sutton, in a wheelchair at the time, looked frail and wasn’t able to speak, but he was graciously shaking hands and posing for photos with whomever desired.

That’s the Eddie Sutton I will remember. Always willing with his time to chat, no matter who you are, or what your level of experience is, if he had the time, he had the time for you. He was a true Hall of Famer.