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Billy has twisted the truth before. Has anyone (besides Billy) made a report disputing these claims? No. My gut tells me that all of these journalists aren't banding together in a conspiracy "to make ORU look bad". Low class move by Billy, compounded by twisting facts on Twitter to make himself look better. Any confidence I had in his ability to lead ORU has been shattered in the last 24 hours. To anyone still thinking this move signals that "winning still matters at ORU", don't be fooled. This is in no way a wise, basketball focused move. This is 100% ego motivated by the head of our university.

Interesting wording here - "notified in writing and by phone". This does not preclude Scott from finding out via twitter that he was fired. "Notified in writing" could mean sending an email and "by phone" could include leaving a message on voice mail. It does not demonstrate that Billy talked to Scott. This sure sounds like double speak, with very little integrity. It is unbelievable that Wilson did not have the courage to tell Scott face-to-face that he was being terminated. This was the highest paid employee at ORU, and arguably, at least in some circles, the face of the school. If Wilson does not have the ability to fire Scott in person, how can he make other tough decisions that are needed to run the University? Herein is an example of an administrator who is not a leader. It has been my personal opinion for the last couple of years that Scott was being set-up for failure. The restrictions that were placed on recruiting, the expulsion of Billbury, and other things caused me to question the current administration. I have wondered why he (Wilson) would do this to our school. Some have opined that Wilson does not truly understand the vision of the school. I think that is part of the issue, but could jealously be involved here as well? You know the next coach will not make more than Wilson. Scott is certainly better known in Tulsa as well as nationally, except in some very narrow circles. I picked up an alumni magazine a few months ago, and as I flipped through it, it seemed that Wilson's picture was on every page. So I went back and counted - he was on two-thirds of the pages of the magazine. (I wonder who thinks that someone will give to the school because they see a picture of the school administrator - who is not even an alum.) I truly hope that the Trustees who read this Board, have the wisdom to understand that the school has lost its way, and the courage to act to return ORU to its founding vision.

ORU stepped in it with their handling of this entire situation. It's hard to be mad at the media for what they're reporting. Had ORU simply held a press conference before the issuing of a press release and before the 5 p.m. newscasts, perhaps some of this ill will being directed towards 7777 S. Lewis Ave. wouldn't be so harsh. Some would. I get that. But the school has mishandled this in every way, from being unprofessional with Scott, to not making Mike or Billy available to the press, to telling players they couldn't make any statements for 48 hours. The school had every opportunity to somewhat control the narrative and they didn't. They violated every cardinal rule about how to avoid a public crisis and now they're paying the price.

Based on past events, I would say yes.

Lost in all of our frustration and resentment about how this was handled and how Scott was wronged and how it makes our athletic program look, is how it reflects on ORU from a Christian perspective - and the admonition that we treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. As believers we understand that we look to God and not man as the source and meaning in our lives, and when someone in the Church does something that is unchristlike we can't (or at least shouldn't) allow that to affect our relationship with Christ. But when an unbeliever sees this sort of thing it only serves to fuel their beliefs that all Christians are hypocrites, and serves to push them further from the truth. Dr. Wilson should recognize that he, as the face of the University, represents what the university stands for, which is to be the representation of Christ in every man's world. Dr. Wilson dropped the ball big time.

Sorry but I did not realize that Pat Jones contributed vast sums of money to our program or even cared about ORU. Secondly and this may be hard to grasp for some of you but a large amount of financial support for ORU comes from well outside the city of Tulsa. As I stated in another thread, outside of Tulsa and/or Oklahoma the reaction is why did we not fire Scott Sutton a long time ago? In all honesty, these last four years have been a nose dive into the tank for our MBB program.

local media will return to ignoring ORU in a day or two. this thing was a case study in how not to let a long time employee go. Wilson does not do this without Mart Green signing off in defense of Carter, maybe he knew deep down this needed to happen ORU basketball is on the decline....a change was needed - product on the court, attendance, player turnover, coaching turnover

Doesn't have to be a "conspiracy". Often journalists just blindly retweet rumors that other journalist have thrown out there. Neither Wilson or anybody in the Tulsa media have credibility with me.

We have multiple players with tattoos... J. Harris has sleeves.

Hiring somebody you can never fire is never a good policy.

Hard to defend Billy on this one. There should be no gray area when it comes to letting go of your coach of the last 18 years. We all know this pink slip came straight from the president's desk and it could not have come at a worse time, or in a worse way. Billy has slowly been losing alumni (and student) support over the last couple years, and this will be a major blow to the confidence and trust placed in his ability to lead the university.

Agreed. I know there are those that will be ecstatic over the news, but I can't help but think he EARNED a bit more time to turn it around after the success and loyalty he's shown.

Big game tonight vs. The 11th ranked Sooners.....the stands should buzzing....wonder what they will be talking about.....

If all of these accusations are untrue, hold a news conference and clarify. If no press conference occurs, then many people will assume that everything that has been tweeted by Gottlieb, Sittler, and said by several media outlets are true. If the accusations are true, it will unfortunately very negatively affect the public perception of ORU. I do not know anyone who would think that grading recruits and current players on how spiritual they are "faith exam/test" is a good idea. ORU is full of AMAZING students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and I am confident that 99.9% of them would disagree with doing that. If that did occur, how could an administrator even think that a coach could make such a determination? How would that information be used? How embarrassing is it to ORU if such a policy existed? Traber on OKC sports radio had several things to say about this today. He said (paraphrasing): 1. ORU is a big deal in Tulsa even though many people in OKC may not realize that. 2. Oral Roberts believed in recruiting non-Christian athletes and then trying to win them to Christ by setting a Christ-like example. 3. Richard Roberts continued Oral's approach and that Mark Rutland did not institute any of these policies i.e. tattoos, faith test, etc. 4. He then focused on Billy Wilson and called for him to be fired. 5. He said he is embarrassed to be a Christian when he hears about other Christians judging people in this way. 6. He said that when ORU was considering hiring Sean Sutton as an assistant coach, Billy Wilson was on the board and opposed the idea, while Rutland was supportive of the idea and felt that it would be a great opportunity to give Sean a second chance. I have been very supportive of Billy Wilson and do believe he has done many good things. But, if most of these things are true, this is damaging to ORU. Unfortunately, this situation is NOT going to be swept under the rug or forgotten. The longer things go with ORU dodging these issues, the more clear it will become that at least some of these things are true. I hope these things are not true, but I think the ORU board is going to need to meet and discuss how to manage this situation moving forward.

Settle down sparky. Exactly what was I blaming the media for? I simply stated the fact that local media doesn't know the first thing abou ORU besides Sutton.

with an apology from Dr Wilson to Scott and his family for how this was handled. own the mistake made and move on!

There needs to be a press conference.

Yardbird

No doubt those with an axe to grind are having a field day. A lot of the hate ORU has brought on itself, but for goodness sake get over your jaded feelings. These are adults acting like complete fools. Oh and Pat Jones is an idiot. At the risk of making enemies, it does not speak highly of the Oklahoma sports fan's intellect that Jones is allowed on air.

Mike Steely and Andrew Gilmann of "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City were less judgemental, but were perplexed by the timing and the cowardly way it was done. Said "After 20 years on campus, he deserved better treatment that this". Then speculated aloud - not making this up - that Doug Gottlieb should call ORU about the job, and vice-versa. An evangelical school hiring a Jewish head coach? Now, THAT would make some headlines!! "Kum-ba-ya, my Lord - Kum-ba-ya"!

Ouch.

Good points, boys....change was surely needed....but you don't fire a guy who has served the program with class and dignity for 18 years by Twitter.....sounds like TheEagleman and many others won't be watching a lot of ORU basketball in the near future....Mabee Center will have even more empty seats in 2017-18 and beyond.....this really is classless....hold a press conference and talk about it.....PLEASE!!!!....

Scott Sutton's record before Billy Wilson: 270-177 (.604) Scott Sutton's record since Billy Wilson (hired June 1, 2013): 58-70 (.453)

Personally, yesterday's momentary feeling of excitement has since been replaced with dread. On the one hand I do believe that a change at Head Coach was an appropriate decision (although he could have given him at least another year) and on the other the hand, the execution of such a change completely undermines the importance of the change itself. I don't believe this is as black and white as some say. My personal belief is that several people in the know felt like this was coming and because of combination of things, such as the entitlement SS and MC felt for the program, they decided to not cooperate. Still, Wilson is a classic egomaniac. Trust me. He is a pastor at heart that is pretending to be an educator. He's the kind of guy who believes that the only way the university will be successful is if he's the one with every idea (inspired by God, of course ) and only if he's the one being promoted at every stop. Don't expect much from the board on this one. There will be no ousting of Billy. He just successfully fundraised $50M for the university. I'm afraid that we might have seen the best days of ORU basketball. This is not good, folks.

"...Today he will have to choose between being a man of integrity and saying that Scott's firing was wrong, or being an "organization man" and saying something to the effect of onward and upward. I believe that Mike will do the right thing both for himself and the school and maintain his integrity." If this is the test of Carter's "integrity" then let's just watch. I don't think there is a chance that he will exhibit integrity! He will be the "organization man" and support Wilson's actions and decisions. The "right thing" ... It won't happen. Carter's lack of integrity in his words and deeds throughout Black Monday show us all the scope of his influence and his courage to make the right decision.

why is Haiston asking Self questions about ORU's recruiting policies over a month ago and trying to schedule an interview with Wilson?? it sounds like this was in the air for weeks and Sutton was prepping the media for an eventual firing. (getting his side out first......nothing at all wrong with that) why is Mike Carter getting let off the hook on this? IF all the reports are true, the firing sounds like it was handled by a President that has never fired a high profile, well liked employee and by an AD that has never fired a high profile, well liked Coach in his over 20+ years as ORU's AD. BOTH share blame if this was bungled as badly as reported. --take the PR hit immediately after the season, notify the coach first in person, and start your coaching search. don't drag things out for weeks providing conditions you are well aware the coach will never agree to.

Wow. Well, I stand corrected. That's completely ridiculous and displays total administrative incompetence. I guess this is why you don't hire a non-academic with no executive experience to run a university. You can't run the school like a church camp and expect to be successful in Division I athletics.

Nice guy and straight-shooter John Holcomb of KOTV just skewered ORU's move on 9pm and 10pm news. Can only imagine how harsh the coverage will be in Tulsa World tomorrow morning. I'm expecting a mostly-straight-forward news story from Ben Johnson plus a column from Bill Haisten, and neither will pull any punches. Things you can take to the bank: 1. Scott Sutton was indeed given an ultimatum by Billy Wilson to fire Sean Sutton, or else he and Sean both stood the risk of being fired. Scott refused. 2. Scott first learned of the press release announcing his removal from one his daughters while at a youth soccer game. She found out about it on Twitter. 3. Billy Wilson gave the coaching staff an edict almost two years ago to start signing players "who more closely reflect our student body". He also told them to quit recruiting players with tattoos, though it is unclear whether that policy was lifted regarding some recruits, or simply ignored by the coaches. 4. Doug Gottlieb is very close to both Sean and Scott through their time together ar OSU. Rest assured that probably everything Doug has to say in the matter is coming straight from the horses' mouths.

This a great day for ORU basketball. I'm glad to see the school still cares about winning. This program has the potential to be GREAT, it's about time we start acting like it.

just speculating........my guess is Wilson, post Roundtree choking out his pregnant girlfriend, told Sutton to bring in better characters. .....remember he was hired just a few months after the Rountree incident and was on the board at the time. if that's the case, i have no issue. if there was an actual "faith test" then that is a problem.....i don't even think the university has a "faith test"

I find it hard to believe that at ANY point in ORU's history, the administration has stood in the way of recruiting an athlete because of a tattoo. Come on now... This is just Gottlieb, and others, dishing out some hot takes. And, pretty much sounds like every conversation I've ever had with someone who hates ORU.

My goodness. What in the world is a "faith exam"..? This kind of stuff is perfect material for the "ORU is a cult" conversations we've all had to have with friends/coworkers. In no way is this a good representation of our university. I am embarrassed for ORU. This thing just keeps getting worse and worse.

If Scott was asked to relieve his brother and didn't (couldn't), I guess that would explain his dismissal. It makes you wonder why Sean would not step down to save his brother's job. Head scratcher....

I find it very hard to believe that anyone would ask Scott to fire his brother. There is no way he would ever do that, so why would you possibly ask? It is possible that some of the things Scott's supporters are saying might not be fully accurate.

Sad day.

I believe Billy Wilson is definitely a man of integrity, so if he says that Scott Sutton was informed that he was fired before the players were told, then I trust him. I can't imagine he would say that if it was not true. Maybe there is some gray area in there, such as, Scott knew this was most likely going to happen, but he did not feel like he was officially told before the players were told.

Wilson trying to do damage control. ORU sucks at PR.......you don't let a guy go after 18 years like this. get your ducks in row and do it properly. Scott Sutton deserved to be let go, but not like this if the reports are true.

I find it really hard to believe that ORU is more restrictive now than in the past (Richard Roberts era). Lots of OSU Cowboys weighing in on ORU sports when they probably couldn't tell you the first thing except a Sutton was head coach.

Don't believe everything you read.... Sutton is a good man and did a lot of good for the ORU basketball program.

I never thought it could happen....and now that it has I'm not quite sure how I feel...the losing the last two years has sucked, but Scott is the kind of coach I think you would want your son to play for....I guess it all does come down to winning