Bill Haisten looks at the perplexing decision not to have Eddie Sutton in the Hall of Fame – especially given the context of other’s previously inducted.
Sixty-five years ago, there was a one-season death penalty of sorts for Kentucky, but Rupp is a celebrated figure in the Hall of Fame. Rupp surely wasn’t aware that his players were associating with gamblers, just like the NCAA determined that Sutton apparently wasn’t aware that an assistant was a dirty recruiter.
More recently, because of violations, the 1996 UMass and 2008 Memphis teams aren’t formally recognized by the NCAA as having made Final Four appearances.