Bill Self Pays Respects to Eddie Sutton, Makes Case for his HOF Inclusion

Bill Self remains the best.

During his trip back to his alma mater this week, where he and his Kansas Jayhawks smacked Oklahoma State to its seventh consecutive Big 12 loss, Self made a point not just to see Eddie Sutton on the sideline, but to chat with him and make (again) his case for Hall of Fame inclusion. First, the pregame check-up:

Classy move by @CoachBillSelf coming over to greet #okstate legend Eddie Sutton before tipoff of the @OSUMBB vs @KUHoops game pic.twitter.com/81eqDXCRnD

— Austyn Iven (@austyniven) January 28, 2020

Next, of course, the on-court beatdown. We’ll fast forward that part and skip straight to the goodies: Self in the postgame.

“I’ve had a chance to talk with Coach here recently. I knew he was here, and Scott told my staff to let me know he was here so I came out early enough where I could get out and come say hello.

“This is one thing I always thought about Mr. Iba: I always thought Mr. Iba was taken for granted so much in this area because everyone was always so comfortable around him because they saw him around all the time. When you see someone all the time, maybe you take for granted the role they played in making our game what it is. I feel the same way about Coach [Sutton]. He’s been around, everybody knows of Coach, he’s around a lot … Hopefully he’ll be elected into the Hall this year.”

Bill Self on getting to visit with Eddie Sutton last night, how his greatness is sometimes overlooked and the impact he made on how Self still coaches his teams.#OKState#RockChalk pic.twitter.com/URnzyuxfLf

— Cayden McFarland (@caydenmc) January 28, 2020