OSU’s Scott Sutton on losing home to wildfires: 'Our support group has been unbelievable'

Oklahoma State University assistant basketball coach Scott Sutton lost his home in last week's wildfires. News On 6 Sports Director John Holcomb spoke to him about the experience, the overwhelming support from the community, and what comes next.

Q: Obviously, you've gone through just about every emotion possible with all of this. What's that been like?

A: "It's exhausting. Kim and I were devastated last Friday night, and last weekend was awfully hard. You start thinking about everything you had in that house, especially the personal items of your children. I also had a bunch of my dad's things that were special to him.

But Sunday, a miracle happened. Kim and I had both left our rings at the house, and we probably had 40 friends, family members, and even strangers come through to help us dig through the rubble. Sure enough, we found both rings. I think that was a great sign that we're going to get through this.

So many people have been affected by these fires, and our support group has been unbelievable. It has shown us that Oklahomans, people from Stillwater, and the Oklahoma State community are special. What they've done—donating time, money, clothes—has been overwhelming. I woke up Saturday morning with just a pair of underwear, socks, sweatpants, and a T-shirt. By Saturday night, I had a closet full of clothes. We have a lot of great friends, a lot of great people. I just hope others are as blessed as we have been."

Q: How much are you looking into the future now? I know you've been asked about rebuilding—it's a long process, isn't it?

A: "It is, and those are the things that are right now, probably overwhelming, but we can't, we don't have to make the decision right now. I mean, we, like I said, we, we're fine. We have a place to stay and for as long as we want we we have been blessed with clothes and items that I'm not sure what we'll ever do with, but hopefully, we can re-gift those and pass them on to somebody that truly needs them but, you know, we'll get to that point down the road. One thing is that it will be in Stillwater, whether we build a home, or build our home back, or buy a house, this is the place that we want to be, and we'll get there someday. At some point, we'll figure it out. One thing is certain: we’ll be in Stillwater. Whether we rebuild our home or buy another, this is where we want to be."

Q: I saw Kim and your daughters at the game the other night, and what stood out to me were the smiles on their faces. They were getting tons of hugs too.

A: "Yeah, they've all done great with this. My wife is about as tough as they come, and she's been a rock star during this last week. And our children are pretty special too. So they take after their mother, and I think they know how blessed we are. I think they've seen it with the amount of support that we've received these last eight days."