STILLWATER — Texas Tech coach Chris Beard wanted to deliver an emphatic message.
It’s why his team wore special warm-up shirts honoring Cowboys coaching legend Eddie Sutton.
“Hall of Fame” stretched across the front. “Coach Sutton” was the back nameplate, above “806,” the number of Sutton’s career victories.
“One thing's important is that the forefathers, the ambassadors of our game, the best people that have ever coached our game should be in the Hall of Fame,” Beard said following OSU’s 73-70 upset Saturday afternoon in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
But Beard did not stop there. He delivered a passionate plea for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to induct Sutton this year, his seventh as a finalist.