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SPOTLIGHTING UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE-
SPECIAL FOUR-PAGE SECTION
SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1989
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Sutton resigns after four seasons at Kentucky
said of his 180 turn. "I don't want anyone else     Roselle said, by TCP associate editor Mike Estep to get hurt. I certainly don't want this program        "I had thought there could be such a vote by A left inrlllHpH in
Although he claimed his innocence until the end, Kentucky basketbail coach Eddie Sutton ended months of speculation by announcing his resignation Sunday afternoon during a nationally-televised NCAA tournament broadcast.
Saying he was stepping down for the good of the program, Sutton made the announcement live on CBS Sports during the halftime of the Indiana-UTEP game, nearly one year after the NCAA launched a probe into wrongdoing in the Wildcat program.
"I'm doing so for one main reason, it's because I love the University of Kentucky and I love the basketball program," Sutton, who is not directly named in any of the NCAA's 18 allegations against UK, said at a press conference later Sunday evening from Wildcat Lodge. "I love all the great fens across the commonwealth. Kentucky basketball is very special to all the people. I think for the good of the program, for the fans, the players and my fomily, that it's probably best that I resign at this time."
The announcement came just more than 24 hours after Sutton vowed, on another CBS Sports broadcast, that he would not resign.
"I think the difference is that I went home and talked to my bride of 30 years and to my three wonderful sons and did a lot of praying," Sutton
said of his 180 turn. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt. I certainly don't want this program to get hurt anymore. It's got to go forward and upward."
UK president Dr. David Roselle, speaking to the press shortly after Sutton's announcement, called the resignation a necessary step toward rebuilding the Wildcat basketball program.
"Circumstances sometimes create a need for change that is in the best interest of the institution," Roselle said. "This is very much the case with coach Sutton's situation at UK. Eddie has decided to put the good of the program and the institution above his personal interestsand I applaud and I think him for that.
"Eddie Sutton has my best wishes in his future pursuits. All friends of UK should feel likewise and be appreciative of Eddie's willingness to recognize that his resignation is a necessary step in the process of rebuilding our basketball program."
Roselle stopped short of saying Sutton would have been fired had he chosen not to resign, but hinted that such a scenario was possible.
"We were going to meet with the athletics board on Tuesday (March 21) afternoon and present a review, not only the NCAA review but a total review of the basketball program, to discuss the future of that program with the athletics board. And I don't know if there would have been a recommendation of that sort to come forward,"
Roselle said.
I had thought there could be such a vote by the athletics board," the UK president added.
Although he said the NCAA probe was the "principal problem in the basketball program," Roselle also said that there were other other factors involved and that the resignation provides an opportunity for the basketball program to have a "fresh start."
"The NCAA problem looms large at the present time, and that remains a difficult situation for the University of Kentucky to deal with," Roselle said.
"But there are also other problems. Problems of competitiveness, as you saw this year. Problems of recruiting. And there are problems of academics in some of the students. Not the students who are here, they are excellent young people. But some of the people who were recruited have been unable to remain at the university."
"In summary," Roselle said, "we now have the opportunity to begin rebuilding our basketball programa fresh start for University of Kentucky basketball."
Sutton, who posted a 90-40 record record during his four-year stint at Kentucky, and has a 432-165 won-loss mark over his 20 years on the major college level, said he would remain in Lexington barring the event that he landed another coaching job next season.
Also included in this special 4-page TCP section:
Entire text of Sutton's press conference
page A2
UK president David Roseiie's comments
page A3
Possible candidates for UK coaching job
page A4