The sad circumstances that probably will mean the end of Eddie Sutton’s coaching career should have nothing to do with whether he deserves to be voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Ma. Nothing whatsoever. His personal demons need to be separated from his professional accomplishments.

But I do have a problem with voting for Sutton. I can’t forget Dr. David Roselle, Eric Manuel, and Dwane Casey.

Of the 70 current coaches who are enshrined in Springfield, few have more impeccable credentials than Sutton, who brought a premature end to his final season at Oklahoma State when he was arrested last weekend after a traffic accident and charged with DUI. To his credit, Sutton admitted that he had supplemented anti-pain medication with alcohol. He said he planned to check himself into a clean-up program.

Rumors about Sutton’s problems with alcohol first surfaced when he was at Kentucky in the late 1980s. Although nobody knew it at the time, he spent some time in the Betty Ford Clinic in 1987. Fired by UK in 1989 in the wake of a recruiting scandal, Sutton spent a year out of coaching, did what it took to get his life in order, and got a second chance from his alma mater, Oklahoma State, which hired him in 1990.

Everywhere he has coached — Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma State — Sutton has successfully recruited quality players, taught the game as he learned it from Henry Iba, and held his own against the best of his generation. He has taken two different programs (Arkansas and Oklahoma State) to the NCAA Final four, and would have taken a third if his 1985-’86 Kentucky team hadn’t been forced to play LSU for a fourth time in the regional finals.

He’s only six victories away from 800 career victories. While he’s on medical leave, the Cowboys will be coached by his son, Sean, but the wins and losses will be attributed to Eddie. That’s the only way Sean would want it. He’s undoubtedly looking forward to the bittersweet day when he can present his dad with No. 800.

Given Sutton’s record, it would be mean-spirited and unfair to keep him out of the Hall of Fame because of his alcoholism. Yet, despite the medical profession’s official position that’s a disease, not a character flaw, it’s a tough sell to the public. There’s still a stigma attached to alcoholism that even smokers don’t have.

If I had a Hall of Fame ballot, I’d vote for Sutton, but I’d think twice about it for a reason that has nothing to do with alcoholism. I still want him to come clean about what happened in the UK recruiting scandal that began when an Emery Air Freight envelope broke open on a conveyor belt in Los Angeles, spilling out $1,000 that was intended for Claud Milles, father of UK recruiter Chris Mills.

Talk about opening a can of worms. The ensuing investigation, which Sutton fought bitterly, led to charges of academic fraud involving UK player Manuel, who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. That led him to lead school and transfer to Oklahoma City, a NAIA program. It also severely compromised his chances of playing in the NBA.

Instead of admitting his guilt, Sutton stonewalled and tried to use his power as UK coach to turn public opinion against Dr. David Roselle, the university president. His ill-advised campaign failed, at least in the sense that Sutton eventually gave up and resigned. However, it also accomplished its mission in the long run. After it became obvious that his fight against Sutton had cost him support among almuni and boosters, Roselle left UK and and moved on to Delaware.

To this day, Sutton maintains that he was innocent. He says he doesn’t know who put the money in the envelope to Claud Mills. He has never apologized to Roselle, to Manuel, or to Casey, the ex-UK player under Joe B. Hall assistant who was Sutton’s assistant and chief recruiter when the Emery envelope broke open.

At the time the scandal broke, Casey was on the fast track to a college head job. Like Sutton, he also pleaded his innocence. But where forgiveness and a second chance came relatively quickly for Sutton, it took Casey much longer. His rehabilitation was spent coaching in Japan and as an NBA assistant. Only this season does he finally have a head coaching job in the NBA.

I wish Eddie Sutton well. I’ve always found him to be good company and good copy. I would vote for him to be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame based strictly on his record as a coach. But I also wish he would do something to make things right with David Roselle, Dwane Casey, and Eric Manuel.