ORU GRAD Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Well, I personally believe that the end of SS era was needed. If you could watch this past season, you saw a four small guard offense with Big's sitting on the bench. I am sorry for SS and believe he is a good man with good intentions yet, the coaching this past season and for some of last season was less than good. Why did we lose assistants and why is Perry the lone assistant left standing? I love ORU as much as most of you and I believe that we will get past this moment in time. Remember, the tough time of RR incident and millions of dollars have been spent in the past few years to bring the University back. I was here in the 90's and we were not only in a deep financial funk but basketball was at an all time low. The City of Faith was almost empty and I truly believe we have seen a miracle to save this University. Has it all been good? No, but somehow we had a great coach named Bill Self come to campus. I was there. However, like most great coaches, his stay was short. But the results were good and the program turned around. Change is sometimes good. I will wait to hear all the information before I make a statement concerning our AD and the President. The reporting sounds bad and it may or may not be all true. Time will tell. This too will pass and we will hopefully have a good energetic Coach and staff to bring the tradition back. I will still look at this glass half full instead of half empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenj Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Certainly was a big surprise when I saw this late last night! The biggest disappointment was the firing not done face to face. Stating that it was not a big surprise for anyone. Still very classless thing to do by the president. As WingMaan has stated above Wilson has a HUGE ego and pretty everything will center around him from now on and I doubt Mike Carter has much say in matters. They will really go with the cheapest hire for the new coach. Maybe D2 coach or something like that. No more spending big amounts. Pretty tough situation with some of the restrictions going forward. Wish Scott the very best going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 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!!!!.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 47 minutes ago, ORUalum said: Geez, amateur hour. Did Billy not understand that this was not like firing a secretary...like this may be a big deal in the media? And does Mike Carter not have the cachet to put his own job on the line if he felt strongly enough about not firing Sutton, especially right now and in this manner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingMaaaan Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 How many different versions of this story are there?? 1 hour ago, ORUalum said: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbl78 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 18 hours ago, ORUalum said: 1 hour ago, ORUalum said: Someone does not have their facts straight. Would the President of ORU knowingly twist the truth??? Would Sittler be trying to make ORU look worse than it already does??? It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 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. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 16 minutes ago, dbl78 said: Would the President of ORU knowingly twist the truth??? Based on past events, I would say yes. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 10 minutes ago, EagleManiac said: 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. 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Several folks that I have heard from - and there have been a bunch coming of the woodwork the past 24 hours, both inside or attached to the athletic department - agree this was a Billy Wilson operation from the get-go, and as one of them put it, "Mike Carter did not lift a finger to stop it - saved his own skin first". I still find it hard to believe: why on earth would he allow/condone such a thing, and at such a bizarre and inappropriate time, to be done to Scott/Sean/Eddie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EaglesFan Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 THE LOCAL TULSA REACTION TO THE SUTTON FIRING … As predicted by many, nothing “good” has happened from this change. ORU has been skewered… On Tulsa area sports-talk radio today, ORU as a sports program … and ORU as an institution … have been (predictably) completely trashed over this Sutton firing situation. There is a ton of anger that comes out of the moderator/hosts. On the Tulsa Sports Animal – ORU’s Flagship sports station – the Middle-of-the-Day Show host Pat Jones (former head football coach at Oklahoma State) characterized this episode as “Completely Despicable”. Similar sentiments were expressed by virtually everyone who talked. Some of Pat Jones quotes: “It’s ‘Bizarro World’ stuff over there (at ORU)…” “You pull this kind of stunt … The stench is all around the school now.” “ “To handle it this way, they don’t have any business participating in intercollegiate athletics…” “None of this makes any sense to me … How do you justify it?” “Nothing surprises me from over there (at ORU).” “This is La La Land … It blows my mind…Running Scott off…” “I can smell the stench from across the street…” (Their radio studio is in the Citiplex Towers)” “In the realm of intercollegiate athletics, where does this school fit? Or schools like ORU?” “From a business standpoint … I don’t think you can try to compete at Division 1 level …” “If only ‘professed Christians’ can be on your team, can you really compete at the highest levels…?” “They have no place playing intercollegiate athletics … They should just do intermural sports.” “They have done this before. They ran Ken Hayes out of there … As good a man as you will find…” “Why do you fire a credible guy like this…?” “If you’re a good coach, you run from this job as fast as you can … Someone will take it but whomever, good luck!” “On the contract buy-out, I hope they’re not going to try and screw Scott with some technical provision of his contract.” “I’m not going over there to watch any more games…” It’s masochistic behavior to listen to Tulsa sports talk radio today… But, these are the people that folks listen to – and they mold people’s opinions and attitudes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 6 minutes ago, EaglesFan said: THE LOCAL TULSA REACTION TO THE SUTTON FIRING … As predicted by many, nothing “good” has happened from this change. ORU has been skewered… On Tulsa area sports-talk radio today, ORU as a sports program … and ORU as an institution … have been (predictably) completely trashed over this Sutton firing situation. There is a ton of anger that comes out of the moderator/hosts. On the Tulsa Sports Animal – ORU’s Flagship sports station – the Middle-of-the-Day Show host Pat Jones (former head football coach at Oklahoma State) characterized this episode as “Completely Despicable”. Similar sentiments were expressed by virtually everyone who talked. Some of Pat Jones quotes: “It’s ‘Bizarro World’ stuff over there (at ORU)…” “You pull this kind of stunt … The stench is all around the school now.” “ “To handle it this way, they don’t have any business participating in intercollegiate athletics…” “None of this makes any sense to me … How do you justify it?” “Nothing surprises me from over there (at ORU).” “This is La La Land … It blows my mind…Running Scott off…” “I can smell the stench from across the street…” (Their radio studio is in the Citiplex Towers)” “In the realm of intercollegiate athletics, where does this school fit? Or schools like ORU?” “From a business standpoint … I don’t think you can try to compete at Division 1 level …” “If only ‘professed Christians’ can be on your team, can you really compete at the highest levels…?” “They have no place playing intercollegiate athletics … They should just do intermural sports.” “They have done this before. They ran Ken Hayes out of there … As good a man as you will find…” “Why do you fire a credible guy like this…?” “If you’re a good coach, you run from this job as fast as you can … Someone will take it but whomever, good luck!” “On the contract buy-out, I hope they’re not going to try and screw Scott with some technical provision of his contract.” “I’m not going over there to watch any more games…” It’s masochistic behavior to listen to Tulsa sports talk radio today… But, these are the people that folks listen to – and they mold people’s opinions and attitudes. 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 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 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"! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingMaaaan Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 1 minute ago, WingMaaaan said: 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. a lot of it may be OK media circling the wagons around a Sutton. Pat Jones has never, in his life, thought a coach should be fired. however, Wilson gave the ammo in how he did this........he really stepped in it and should apologize to Sutton, his family and ORU stakeholders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 There is no way this was going to end well - but I think it could have been handled better. Scott is a long time coach at ORU with lots of success and good memories (Green & Tutt, 3 straight NCAA teams, etc.) for all of the fans. He is also a genuinely nice guy who represented the school with integrity and class. The last few years have been a struggle - both on the court (win-loss record) and off (players & coaches leaving). Even parting ways in a more open/agreeable way would have been hard. And if the reports about Sean's tenure and the move to separate him as assistant coach are correct, it appears that might have been the catalyst for this whole situation. Hiring family is almost always problematic because they can't be fired. It also appears that Sean's presence may have impacted the other assistant coaches (Hankins, Crutchfield, Brown) and consequently the recruiting and development of players. I have to think (hope) there might be a bit more to this story than we know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.