Former men's basketball coach Eddie Sutton's name will be attached to future University of Arkansas basketball programs for years to come.
The University of Arkansas System board of trustees unanimously approved naming the men's basketball team's practice gymnasium after Sutton with a voice vote Thursday at their May meeting in Little Rock.
The gym, located inside the Razorbacks' Basketball Performance Center, will be known as the Eddie Sutton Men's Basketball Practice Gym.
The Basketball Performance Center is located across the street from Walton Arena and houses locker rooms, training areas, separate practice gyms and coaches' offices for the men's and women's basketball teams.
The vote took place two months after trustees approved naming the Walton Arena court after former coach Nolan Richardson, who led the Razorbacks to the 1994 NCAA national championship. At that meeting, trustees asked UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek and Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz to return in May with an idea for honoring Sutton, 83, who coached at Arkansas for 11 seasons from 1974-85.
Yurachek told trustees that naming the practice gym for Sutton was "the option we believe is the best to honor Coach Sutton."
The resolution the university presented to trustees states that trustees express their "high regard for and lasting gratitude to" Sutton.
The resolution reads: "WHEREAS, the Board acknowledges the role Coach Sutton played in expanding the interest of basketball within Arkansas while leading the Razorbacks to national prominence..." and "further acknowledges his recruitment, development and mentorship of the famed Triplets -- Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer, and Marvin Delph -- Joe Kleine, Scott Hastings, Alvin Robertson, Darrell Walker, and countless other Razorback greats."
"Oh my goodness," Kleine said when told of the trustees' decision to honor Sutton. "I mean, I'm speechless. ... I'm glad that they saw it was fit to recognize him. I mean, I'm choked up about it. I feel like they're doing something for my dad.
"He's meant so much to so many people. I'm just very thankful, very thankful to the university and to the athletic department."
Sutton went 260-75, won five Southwest Conference championships and led the Razorbacks to nine NCAA Tournaments during a run that laid the foundation for Richardson to build one of college basketball's dominant teams of the 1990s.
Arkansas had been to one NCAA Tournament in 25 seasons prior to Sutton's arrival.
"He laid the foundation," Kleine said. "He put a solid, great foundation there so that a terrific coach like Nolan Richardson found that job attractive. If Eddie Sutton isn't there, I don't think Nolan Richardson comes [to Arkansas]."
Sutton took the Razorbacks to the Final Four in 1978 -- 33 years after the program's previous appearance. The 1978 team finished 32-4, tied for the second most single-season victories in program history, and Sutton was named national coach of the year by The Associated Press.
Sutton had a winning record every season at Arkansas. The only season the Razorbacks lost 10 or more games under Sutton was his last in Fayetteville, when the Razorbacks went 22-13. Sutton left after the season to become Kentucky's head coach.
Four of his Arkansas teams finished the season ranked in The Associated Press' Top 10.
"He loved coaching the Razorbacks," said Sean Sutton, the second of Sutton's three sons and an adviser to the basketball coaching staff at Texas Tech. "He always took so much pride in that program. In a lot of ways, he viewed Arkansas basketball as his fourth child. He spent so much time and effort trying to build that program."
Sutton's success generated a statewide following for Razorbacks basketball and spurred the renovation of Barnhill Arena from a dusty, 5,000-seat multi-purpose facility to a sparkling, 9,000-seat basketball arena known for its home-court advantage.
His teams were a combined 120-8 at Barnhill, and his .776 overall winning percentage at Arkansas was an Southwest Conference record.
Sutton resigned after four seasons at Kentucky amid an NCAA investigation that resulted in a postseason ban for the Wildcats. He had his greatest success during a 16-season tenure at his alma mater, Oklahoma State, where he won 368 games and went to two Final Fours.
The floor at Oklahoma State's Gallagher-Iba Arena is named for Sutton.
"The two places he was happiest were the 11 years he spent at Arkansas and the 16 years he spent at Oklahoma State," Sean Sutton said.
Sutton won 804 career games, coached in three Final Fours, won 10 regular-season conference championships and led four schools to the NCAA Tournament during his career.
He is the winningest college coach who has not been elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which is considered the sport's highest lifetime achievement honor. Sutton has been a finalist for the Naismith Hall of Fame six times, including this year, but has failed each time to receive the necessary 18 votes from the Hall's 24-member selection panel.
Sutton was inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
A banner with Sutton's name is displayed in the rafters of Walton Arena.
Sports on 05/24/2019