Football
Associated Press 16y

Despite losing two stars, Sutton sees room for growth at Oral Roberts

TULSA, Okla. -- After Caleb Green and Ken Tutt completed
their stellar careers at Oral Roberts, the conventional thinking
was that head coach Scott Sutton might be the next one to head for
the exit.

But after leading the Golden Eagles to consecutive NCAA
tournaments for the first time in school history, Sutton will be
back for a ninth season to prove there's life in his program after
his dynamic duo moved on.

"No regrets at all. I'm excited about the future of this
program, I'm excited about this year," Sutton said Thursday at
Oral Roberts' annual media day. "Obviously, I love Tulsa and I
love my job. I think there's things that we haven't done that we
can accomplish here. I really believe that.

"I think this program, we've come a long ways the last few
years but I really believe -- and people may get a chuckle out of
this with us losing Ken and Caleb -- but I think this program can
take another step up. It may not be this year, but I think in the
future of this program there's another level we can get to."

Sutton was courted for Wichita State's vacant coaching position,
but pulled his name out of consideration to stay with the two-time
defending Mid-Continent Conference champions. The Golden Eagles,
who made waves nationally with their upset at No. 3 Kansas last
season, are picked to finish second in the newly renamed Summit
League.

"I think you're judged ultimately by how you do in the NCAA
tournament, and I think I'll be very disappointed in the next
several years if we don't get to the tournament on a consistent
basis and if we don't win games," Sutton said. "That's my goal
and if I didn't think we could do that here, I probably would have
decided to leave.

"I think there's certainly room for improvement in this
program, and I'm looking forward to that challenge."

Sutton's dreams will be harder to achieve without Green and
Tutt, who combined to score 47 percent of the team's points over
the past four seasons. But he isn't making things easy for those
left behind.

The Golden Eagles' nonconference schedule features road games at
Texas A&M, Texas and Arkansas and a neutral site game against
Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City. There's no doubt those teams would
have been more hesitant to schedule Oral Roberts if Green and Tutt
were still present.

"I like the fact that we're going to get tested early," Sutton
said. "We're going to play against teams that have a chance to go
deep in the NCAA tournament, and we're going to know a lot more
about ourselves and what we need to work on because we play those
games than if we played as soft a schedule as we could possibly
play. It may pad your victories, but it may catch up with you in
the end."

Sutton will be counting on seniors Moses Ehambe, Shawn King and
Adam Liberty to take over as the team's leaders and any number of
players to make up for the scoring punch lost from last season.
Junior college transfer Robert Jarvis led the team in scoring
during a three-game exhibition tour to Canada over Labor Day
Weekend, but eight players reached double digits in scoring in at
least one of the games.

"It's the deepest team we've had by far. In the past, we've
felt pretty good about seven, eight or nine guys. This year, I feel
really good about 12 of them. I think 12 of them could help us win
games this year," Sutton said.

"I'm not going to play 12 guys every game, but I think it's
made our practices very competitive. ... If those guys want to see
action on game night, they understand they've got to prove it on
the floor. I think that will allow this team to grow and get better
throughout the year."

Sutton hopes the games against high-profile opponents will
continue to raise Oral Roberts' national exposure and make the
program more appealing to recruits who want to compete for
championships and get the chance to face top 25 competition.

The difficult schedule can also improve the team's RPI and
prepare it for a deep run into the conference tournament, the
Golden Eagles' most direct route into the NCAA tournament.

"We feel we have a good enough team that we can repeat, to get
another championship," said Jarvis, who averaged 12.7 points on
the Canada trip. "People played in the shadows of Caleb and Ken
last year, and I think that this year they're ready to step up."

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