Scott Sutton's Sports Blazer Proves Lucky For ORU

When the Oral Roberts basketball team was on a seven-game losing streak Coach Scott Sutton looked for some inspiration, not to the court, but to a few suits, specifically a certain sports blazer. Now, the Golden Eagles are on a three-game winning streak.

"It has everything to do with the sports jacket and nothing to do with our players, obviously,” Sutton joked. “I'd decided that I'd worn this sports coat earlier in the year and we won the game [so I] said, ‘Hey I'm going to wear that,’ and we finally won a game… If something's working, don't change it.”

The self-admitted superstitious coach has done this before. In the 2008-09 season, ORU lost six of seven then won eight straight.

"I've worn the same navy suit ten games in a row, but no one notices cause it's a navy suit," said Sutton.

But this one is different; the players noticed.

"I love the coat, the get-up. I love the pattern. I think he's doing a great job,” said ORU team captain Obi Emegano.

When I asked Emegano if he’d wear the coat, he excitedly said yes. But his teammate Aaron Young initially felt the opposite.

"The first reaction when I saw it was, ‘That's an interesting coat,’ but it's growing on me," stated Young.

This all started when Coach Sutton needed new attire after losing weight this offseason.

And he didn't have to look far. Across the street from campus, Travers Mahan has always helped the Sutton family, starting with former OSU Coach Eddie Sutton.

"We began to dress him and work with him, kind of change his look for camera and we just been friends for a long time," explained Mahan.

As for Scott's choice of coat, Mahan says he gave him a younger look.

“We've kind of younged him up a little bit and gotten, I think, some real current looking things on him,” said Mahan. “I don't know if it helps him coach or not, but it helps his persona. We looked at several of them but he kept going back to that one, and that's the one that he stuck with."

ORU has a game Thursday night against South Dakota State, going for four in a row.  

Maybe I can wear Sutton’s sports coat and get some luck myself.