Hall of Fame
Coach Tom Sutherland is a native of West Virginia, born in St. Albans and raised in the cities of Dunbar and Hurricane. Coach Sutherland graduated from Hurricane High School before attending West Virginia State College where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Education in 1968. Coach Sutherland went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Education at Marshall University in 1976, two years before he joined the West Virginia Tech staff.
In 1978, Coach Sutherland came to Tech as an assistant men’s basketball coach, and would hold that position for three seasons before taking over the reigns in 1981. In thirteen seasons at the helm of the Golden Bears, Coach Sutherland and his teams brought numerous awards and national recognition to Tech athletics.
Coach Sutherland’s overall record at Tech was 218 -173, a 58% winning percentage. His team’s did even better at home, winning 71% of those games (90-36). Coach Sutherland had a WVIAC Tournament record of 23-10. The Golden Bears were crowned Tournament Champions in 1982 and 1986. Under Coach Sutherland’s guidance, the Golden Bears also won the tournament in 1988. That same year, they won the regular season championship as well, marking the only time this feat has been accomplished at Tech. During Coach Sutherland’s tenure, the team also took home the regular season championship in 1990.
The Golden Bears appeared in the NAIA playoffs twice under Coach Sutherland, first in 1982 and again in 1988. While at WV Tech, Coach Sutherland’s teams took pride in consitently playing a very strong non-conference schedule, which included several NCAA DI schools as well as many of the NCAA DII powers.
Since his departure from Tech, Coach Sutherland has gone on to find success at the high school level. His 1999 team at Valley High School was the state runner-up in the West Virginia Class A State Tournament. Coach Sutherland currently resides in Winfield, WV and presently coaches at Calvary Baptist Academy in Hurricane.
