updated 9:36 p.m. ET Feb. 21, 2006

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Although he’s on medical leave and facing drunken driving charges, Eddie Sutton still has a hand in the coaching of the Oklahoma State team.

Last week, after the Cowboys’ first game under interim and future head coach Sean Sutton, the 69-year-old patriarch of Oklahoma State basketball sent along “a whole page of things he’d written down,” assistant coach James Dickey said Monday.

Whatever he said must have been sound advice as the Cowboys beat No. 7 Texas by 21 points in one of the biggest upsets in the Big 12 this season.

“We listen to him on a variety of subjects,” Dickey said during the Big 12 coaches’ weekly conference call with reporters. “Sean is in contact with him constantly. Yes, we do talk to him and see him as often as we can.”

Sutton, just a few victories short of 800, sustained injuries in a traffic accident while driving to meet his team at the Stillwater, Okla., airport on Feb. 10. He later went on medical leave and was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and driving left of center. He will face those charges after completing treatment for alcoholism.

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He called the locker room minutes after the victory over Texas to congratulate the team.

“He was so pleased in the manner in which guys played. From a personal standpoint, he had to feel so proud of the way they played,” Dickey said.

But some might ask if this sends the wrong message to the players.

“No, there are no mixed messages,” Dickey said. “The calls he’s made have been in support and love for the players. He’s not been talking to them about how they’re playing, other than he’s proud they played hard. It’s been more of an opportunity to let them know how he feels about them personally, and he is proud of them.”

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Sean Sutton, who already had been designated as his father’s successor, went down the bench Sunday and hugged the players as the game wound down.

“One of the great things he provided during the week under certainly difficult circumstances was great leadership,” Dickey said. “He was there for the players. He expressed to them they came here to get an education and play basketball. He was very positive. Our practices were outstanding.”

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