Mussatto: Why new Oklahoma State basketball coach Steve Lutz isn't 'just selling a dream'
STILLWATER — OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg twice called Steve Lutz a hard worker. It wasn’t by accident.
Lutz, introduced Thursday as OSU’s new men’s basketball coach, is the son of a telephone line repairman. His dad never missed a day of work.
“I always looked at him and said, ‘Man, how does he do it?’” Lutz said.
Lutz’s first coaching job was as a graduate assistant at Incarnate Word, a small private school in Lutz’s hometown of San Antonio. $186.13. Lutz still remembers how much he made a month.
Lutz worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at a restaurant and bar to make ends meet.
As he stood behind a podium at centercourt of Gallagher-Iba Arena, Lutz, 51, reflected on how those days working two jobs were the first rung of his coaching ladder. Step 1 of leading him here, to Stillwater, where Lutz will roam the same sidelines as did Henry Iba and Eddie Sutton.
It hit Lutz.
“I’m a dreamer,” he said, “but I’m not that big of a dreamer.”
More: How did Steve Lutz become Oklahoma State basketball coach? Relationships, basketball IQ
From Incarnate Word, Lutz held assistant jobs at Garden City Community College in Kansas, Stephen F. Austin and SMU. He spent seven seasons at Creighton as an assistant under Greg McDermott and four at Purdue under Matt Painter.
Painter, who coached under Purdue legend Gene Keady. Keady, who coached under Sutton at Arkansas. Sutton, a protege of Iba’s at OSU.
“Certainly you don’t go into it thinking anything about those connections other than there’s a reason why those guys are hall-of-fame basketball coaches, legendary basketball coaches that coached here,” Weiberg said. “And they won a lot of games.
“There’s a formula I think that works for winning a lot of games, and the truth of the matter is yeah, he’s learned from that lineage and that tree.”
OSU’s rich history, albeit more and more distant, wasn’t lost on Lutz.
“We aren’t just selling a dream,” Lutz said. “It has been done here before.”
When looking for the next guy to do it, Weiberg said he focused on three characteristics: Someone with head coaching experience, someone who’s had success as a head coach and someone who’s a good fit for OSU and Cowboy basketball.
“We found all of those things in Steve Lutz,” Weiberg said.
More: How new coach Steve Lutz plans to rebuild Oklahoma State basketball
Lutz has spent three years as a head coach — two at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and one at Western Kentucky. Lutz had success, leading his teams to the NCAA Tournament in each of those three seasons.
As for being a good fit? That remains to be seen. Winning games will make Lutz a good fit.
By recognizing the work ahead, though, Lutz is off to a good start.
“I’m a person who believes I’m no better than the last manager or the last player on the team. When we land, the next time we unload that bus or unload that plane, I’m gonna grab the bags just like you guys,” said Lutz, looking at a small group of current and former players.
Lutz talked about being a “steward” of the OSU program. He recognized the tradition of the job he’s taking over. A tradition Lutz hopes to restore to its heights.
“The time is now,” Lutz said. “It’s time to win, guys.”
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State basketball coach Steve Lutz not 'just selling a dream'
