The Rotary Club of Tulsa was successful in luring John Calipari to Tulsa. The Kentucky basketball coach will be the keynote speaker at the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards on Monday at the Renaissance Hotel.
But will Calipari be successful in luring Eddie Sutton back to Kentucky?
Sutton, a retired coach who resides in Tulsa, is in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. His body of work includes shepherding four programs – Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State – to NCAA Tournaments.
Sutton is a beloved figure here, but parades are not staged for him in Kentucky, where he posted a four-season record of 90-40. He resigned under pressure in 1989 after a 13-19 season and amid allegations of NCAA wrongdoing, although he was not cited in any charges.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.