Kentucky Basketball: Brad Calipari joining UK staff to coach not so bad
By Eric Thorne
Sean Sutton was not a great Wildcat under dad but better as a Cowboy
Sean Sutton played for two years at Kentucky from 1987-1989 appearing in 54 games and playing 1,153 minutes total. In those two seasons, he scored 212 points, handed out 182 assists, and had 45 steals.
He then transferred to Oklahoma State after his dad sent the UK program to the laughing stock of the country with tenure tarnished by scandal and investigations from the Emory envelope scandal, further leading to three-year probation and—most notably—a two-year ban from postseason play.
Sean was an instant starter running the point and guided the Cowboys to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in 1991 and 1992. They even were ranked as high as No. 2, the pressure he was already familiar with from his UK days.
He averaged 10.2 points in his junior season and followed that with 11.7 points his senior year. He sits 12th on the career assists list with 291 and first in career three-point percentage at 44.5 percent.
By doing so Sutton’s resume includes three Sweet 16 appearances in his playing career with two with OU and one as a Wildcat.
That prepared him to be an assistant at Ole Miss and then Oklahoma State under his dad. He took over as head coach in 2006 after Eddie was involved in a DUI crash and bestowed the coaching duties to his son during recovery. Sean would coach for two years before all the pressure got to him.
He then coached with his brother Steve at Oral Roberts and now is a special advisor to Texas Tech coach Chris Beard.