OKLAHOMA CITY — Alex Caruso grew up in College Station, Texas. His father, Mike, worked for Texas A&M for 31 years, the last 25 as an assistant athletic director.
And before Alex Caruso was an A&M point guard, he was an Aggie ballboy.
The Carusos would get to Reed Arena 2½ hours before the game. Alex, from ages 8 to 14, would fire up as many shots as possible before his duties began as a rebounder for Aggie shooters.
After the game, the Carusos would drive home and dissect the game.
What did the Aggies do? What did the opponents do?
Mike Caruso had played some basketball himself, and those winter nights provided a father with the chance to pour hoops knowledge into his son.
Alex Caruso sat at the podium Wednesday on the eve of the NBA Finals. In his first season in Oklahoma, he’s become an invaluable member of the Thunder, who host the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 Thursday night. A disruptive defender who sends opponents cowering when he checks into games. A ball mover on offense who is the Thunder’s most dependable 3-point shooter (41.5%) in these playoffs.
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Caruso already has an NBA title, earned with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. And this basketball player sprouted from those drives home with Mike Caruso.
“Looking back on it, I think that’s probably where a lot of my understanding from the game came from,” Alex Caruso said.
I stood with Cayden McFarland, a TV sports director in Tulsa, watching the Thunder shoot Wednesday when McFarland, unprompted, said, “Eddie Sutton would have loved Alex Caruso.”
Yep, the Creighton/Oklahoma State/Arkansas coaching legend loved wings who sold out on defense and could score a little, too. Sidney Moncrief and Marvin Delph, Desmond Mason and Tony Allen, Alvin Robertson and Ron Brewer, Darrell Walker and Terry Collins.
And Sutton would have some extra fondness for Alex Caruso.
Mike Caruso? He was a ballplayer himself.
A point guard out of Oakland, California, came to the Midwest for college. His coach got fired in 1969 and Mike Caruso had to adjust to a brand new style.
The new coach came in, demanded defense and Caruso had to adjust. And so he did. He became the new coach’s two-year point guard and two-year captain.
The college was Creighton. The coach was Eddie Sutton.
Alex Caruso learned his basketball from the man who learned his basketball from Sutton, who died in 2020 at age 84 but was an icon. Moving on from Omaha to coach Arkansas and OSU to the Final Four.
“That’s a name right there,” Caruso said Wednesday when I asked about Sutton.
And Mike Caruso still raves about his college coach from more than half a century ago.
“Discipline was probably the biggest strength for Eddie,” Mike Caruso said. “It truly was about the fundamentals. I to this day still believe that’s what the game’s about.
“He really encouraged you to exploit the things you were really good at. Not just individually but as a group, limit the things that were not as successful.”
Mike Caruso told the story that Alex repeated Wednesday and will be quite familiar to those who remember the glory days of OSU basketball. Sutton started his first day of practice at Creighton without any basketballs.
Mike Caruso had been recruited to Creighton by Red McManus, who spent 10 years in Omaha and fashioned a 138-118 record. McManus believed in uptempo and scoring.
“Eddie came in, it was a 180,” Mike Caruso said. “First official day of practice, as soon as the whistle blew, the basketballs disappeared.
“Obviously, Eddie’s philosophy, you can have off nights shooting. Sometimes you don’t score as well as you should, but you can always defend and you can win by not letting the other team score.”
Sutton was something of an unknown, having come from Southern Idaho Junior College.
Sutton struck a chord with the Bluejays.
“He had a presence about him, just from his personality, that kind of stood out,” Mike Caruso said. “Let everybody know he was the leader and he was going to make a very good impression on everybody, and he did.
“Very well spoken. Went around town, shook all the hands, kissed all the babies. Made an impression. He was really good from a representative standpoint.”
Mike Caruso had been around good coaching. At Oakland’s O'Dowd High, Caruso played on the top team in the state of California. His coach, Frank LaPorte, later would coach Jason Kidd in high school and was considered a California hoops master.
Sutton immediately impressed Caruso.
“He talked to me more one-on-one,” Caruso said. “He was about the way you carried yourself. He instilled some things like that, having pride in yourself and how you represented your school and basketball team.”
Caruso remembers Patsy Sutton’s home cooking, especially the desserts. And being hired as Eddie Sutton’s graduate assistant, when that job included scouting and recruiting. It was a great jump into a profession.
When Arkansas hired Sutton away in 1974, Tom Apke was promoted to the job. Apke hired Caruso to his full-time staff.
In the years to follow, Sutton occasionally would put in a good word for Caruso at one job or another, including A&M, which hired him for an administration job in 1987.
You know the rest.
A ballboy learned the game and now is a Thunder fan favorite who can help send the state into a wild celebration.
Photos: Our favorite photos from the 2024-25 Creighton men's basketball season
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Creighton's Pop Isaacs (2) goes up for a 3-pointer s head coach Greg McDermott motions in the background during the second half of a men's college basketball game against Kansas at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) shoots a layup during the second half of a men's college basketball game against Villanova at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton players cheer from the bench during the first half of a men's college basketball game against Xavier at the CHI Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ty Davis (9), left, and Jasen Green (0) celebrate after their victory over Xavier in a men's college basketball game at the CHI Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) walks away after addressing fans during senior day festivities after a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, March 8, 2025. CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Mason Miller (13) poses for a portrait during Creighton men's basketball media day in Omaha on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) goes up for a layup against Houston Christian's Porter Bazil (7) during the second half of a men's college basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Fredrick King (33) goes up for a shot against Houston Christian's Porter Bazil (7) during the second half of a men's college basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) and Sterling Knox (4) celebrate with head coach Greg McDermott after his 328 win at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) goes up for a 3-pointer against Nebraska's Sam Hoiberg (1) during the first half of a college men's basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton mascot Billy Bluejay dunks the ball during the first half of a men's college basketball game against Kansas at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton players celebrate after their fans rushed the court after defeating Kansas, 76-63, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) goes up for a shot above Seton Hall's Emmanuel Okorafor (23) during the first half of a college men's basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Seton Hall's Garwey Dual (33) dunks the ball against Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) during the first half of a college men's basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Isaac Traudt (41) is celebrated after a call agaisnt Seton Hall's Jahseem Felton (15) during the second half of a college men's basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Isaac Traudt (41) dunks the ball during the first half of a men's college basketball game against Xavier at the CHI Center in Omaha on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) reacts after a basket against Xavier during the second half of a college men's basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Billy Bluejay waves a flag during player introductions before the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) dribbles the ball against Marquette during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Mason Miller (13) looks to pass the ball away from Marquette's Kam Jones (1) during the first half of a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. CHRIS MACHIAN THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Jamiya Neal (5) dunks the ball during the second half of a college men's basketball game against Connecticut at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) goes up to dunk the ball during the second half of a college men's basketball game against Georgetown at the CHI Center in Omaha on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) celebrates going into a timeout after dunking the ball during the second half of a college men's basketball game against Georgetown at the CHI Center in Omaha on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. MEGAN NIELSEN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunks the ball during the second half of a college men's basketball game against DePaul at CHI Health Center in Omaha, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. NIKOS FRAZIER, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) walks out during pre-game introductions before the first half af a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, March 8, 2025. CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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Creighton's Steven Ashworth (1) carries his son Tommy Jay as he walks out during senior day festivities after a men's college basketball game at CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, March 8, 2025. CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD
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