Checking Out the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles

Fair disclosure: I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, attended the University of Kansas, and have supported the Jayhawks since my childhood. As such, I have spit many an ear-curdling epithet at the televised images of Eddie, Sean, and Scott Sutton during my lifetime. That's what a worthy opponent will do to a guy.

As a more mature fan, I try to put aside my visceral reactions from time to time and accurately judge the people I'm watching. So this is my unbiased opinion on Oral Roberts head man Scott Sutton: the guy is one hell of a coach. Or, since he works for a televangelist, maybe he's a towering spire of heaven of a coach. The younger of the two Sutton boys followed Bill Self from Oklahoma State to ORU over a decade ago, and stayed on when Self moved on to bigger and better things. He has turned the Golden Eagles into the top program in the Summit League, and is running the table at 9-0 this season.

The Golden Eagles have made good use of their coach's connections, too. Sutton finagled a visit to his old mentor's home base last year and left with a signature win over the Jayhawks that rocked the basketball world. This season, he prevailed upon his brother at OSU, landing a neutral-court game in Oklahoma City that again ended with his troops pulling the upset. With this kind of resume, I'm not sure how much longer we'll be seeing Scott Sutton at Summit League meetings. A tournament victory could put him on the up-escalator.

The Golden Eagles are a guard-driven team, with upperclassmen Robert Jarvis and Adam Liberty handling the rock and leading the scoring. Jarvis is a welcome newcomer in Tulsa, and is dominating his first season in the big leagues after transferring from Seminole State College. The native of Humble, Texas is averaging seventeen points per game and providing a steady presence. Another transfer - Caribbean-born Shawn King - provides size up front: he contributes scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots.

The Summit, as a league, kind of stinks, and that's holding ORU back. If the Golden Eagles run the table but stumble in the conference tourney, do they have the profile to get an at-large bid? It depends on many other factors, but in that scenario, at least they'll make the selection committee sweat a bit, rather than dismiss them out of hand.

ORU isn't scheduled to be on television throughout the rest of the regular season, but I'm holding out hope that ESPNU will pick up a game or two along the way. If not, we can hope that they'll be on the televised Bracket Busters slate, which won't be announced until early February. Either way, if the Eagles make the dance, this could be their year to pull the major upset.