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Sutton out of hospital after medication scare

Ex-Oklahoma State basketball coach was found unconscious in car Friday

Image: Sutton
Sue Ogrocki / AP file
Eddie Sutton won 798 games in his college coaching career.
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updated 2:21 p.m. ET Nov. 4, 2006

STILLWATER, Okla. - Former Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton was released from a Stillwater hospital Friday after a response to a medication led paramedics to take him by ambulance to the emergency room.

The 70-year-old Sutton, who ranks fifth in career wins among Division I men’s coaches, was released early Friday afternoon, said Shyla Eggers, director of public affairs at Stillwater Medical Center.

A smiling Sutton appeared fit Friday night when he attended Oklahoma State’s first exhibition game of the season, an 84-67 win over Pittsburg State.

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New head coach Sean Sutton, Eddie Sutton’s son, said he was happy to see his dad at the game.

“He is feeling a lot better and doing well,” Sean Sutton said. “I spoke to the doctor that was caring for him and he said that he felt that my dad had an allergic reaction to some medicine that he had started taking last night. He was in the hospital for a couple hours and then they released him.”

Eddie Sutton had been “largely unresponsive” but able to communicate verbally with police officers and paramedics after they responded to a 911 call from a Stillwater convenience store around 9:34 a.m. Friday, Stillwater Police Capt. Randy Dickerson said.

“The ER physician stated that Mr. Sutton is not under the influence of alcohol; however a possible reaction to new medication prescribed by his physician may be the cause of this incident,” the hospital said in a statement released by Eggers.

Sutton told The Oklahoman the new medication was for neck pain.

“I feel better now than I have in three or four years physically and emotionally,” Sutton told the newspaper.

Sutton retired in May after compiling 798 wins in 36 years as a college coach at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State, his alma mater. His retirement came about three months after a drunken driving accident caused him to miss the Cowboys’ final 10 games last season.

After his retirement, Sutton had begun working with a new alcohol education and support program at Oklahoma State. His first appearance was a speech to about 1,500 students at a fraternity house in September.

Sutton reached the Final Four with Arkansas in 1978 and with Oklahoma State in 1995 and 2004.

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