Sensing fan appetite for basketball, UA athletic director Frank Broyles made a splash hire in 1974 by luring Eddie Sutton away from Creighton. Sutton who had risen through the ranks as a high school and community college coach, was fresh from guiding the Blue Jays to the NCAA Tournament. A Kansas native, Sutton played at Oklahoma State (then Oklahoma A&M) in the 1950s under hall of fame coach Henry Iba.