Sutton to be Honored with Banner Ceremony

Banner Unveiling Tickets

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Former Arkansas men’s basketball head coach Eddie Sutton will be honored with a banner recognizing his Hall of Fame career at Bud Walton Arena during a special ceremony at halftime of the Arkansas-Missouri men’s basketball game on Feb. 20. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. Sutton will become the sixth former coach or student-athlete to have a banner unveiled in Bud Walton Arena.

“Coach Eddie Sutton and his teams’ success at the University of Arkansas put Razorback Basketball on the map,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. “Coach Sutton not only transformed our program, he introduced the game of college basketball to Arkansans across the state. When he arrived, Barnhill Arena still had dirt floors under the bleachers. By the end of his tenure at Arkansas, Barnhill Arena boasted a Final Four banner and a rabid Razorback fan base making it one of the toughest places to play in the nation. He is beloved by his former players for the lessons he taught them on and off the court. We look forward to recognizing his tremendous contributions with a banner displayed in his honor at Bud Walton Arena.”

Sutton spent 36 years as a NCAA Division I basketball coach and became the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA Tournament. In 1974, Sutton took over the Arkansas program and over the next 11 seasons, he compiled a record of 260-75, including five Southwest Conference championships, nine NCAA tournament appearances and a Final Four appearance in 1978. Sutton helped lead the Razorbacks to national prominence, including coaching the Triplets, Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph, Joe Kleine and other Razorback greats.

His Arkansas winning percentage of .776 is the highest in the history of the Southwest Conference. He is a member of both the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame. In 2011, Sutton was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo.

Coach Sutton’s banner will be raised in the Bud Walton Arena rafters joining banners honoring former men’s basketball head coach Nolan Richardson, men’s basketball student-athletes Sidney Moncrief and Corliss Williamson and women’s basketball student-athletes Bettye Fiscus and Delmonica DeHorney-Hawkins.