How Eddie Sutton Helped Play a Role in Thunder Guard Alex Caruso’s Stifling Defense

Happy NBA Finals Day to Oklahoman’s all around the world.

The Oklahoma City Thunder plays the Indiana Pacers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Aside from one of the teams being from Oklahoma, there isn’t a big Oklahoma State angle in this game (Lindy was so close) … that was until Thunder guard Alex Caruso met with the media this week.

In his first year with the franchise, Caruso has quickly become a fan-favorite in OKC, especially in this playoff run. He’s gotten into the fans’ good graces with his tenacious defense — a tenacity that has ties to legendary OSU coach Eddie Sutton.

Caruso played four years at Texas A&M. His father, Mike Caruso, played at Creighton in the late 1960s and early 70s, where Sutton just so happened to coach.

“He played for Eddie Sutton when he was at Creighton,” Alex said. “He vividly remembers practices with no basketballs, especially at the beginning of the year. Ball rack would be out there, then practice would start and Coach Sutton would just roll them out, and they’d play defense for two hours.”

55 years ago, Mike Caruso was a guard for the Creighton Blue Jays.

His coach, Eddie Sutton.

Now Mike’s son, Alex, is one of the fiercest defenders for the Thunder. He’s also eyeing his second NBA championship. pic.twitter.com/i6QcA7sbdt

— Dan Lindblad (@DanLindbladTV) June 4, 2025

Sutton’s final season at Creighton was 1973-74, but his demanding practices didn’t stop there, following him to Arkansas, Kentucky and then Stillwater, where he notably had the Cowboys dress in football pads to increase practice physicality.

So when you’re watching the Thunder play for an NBA title, know that No. 9 has a little bit of Sutton influence in him. If you haven’t watched Caruso play this year, it’s fairly evident.