Hall of Fame
From the 2012 Hall of Fame program:
For nearly 30 years, one man’s name – Dane Suttle -- has stood atop the list that marks the all-time scoring leaders in Pepperdine men’s basketball history.
Suttle, a 6-foot-3 guard, came to Pepperdine as a freshman in 1979-80 after earning All-City honors at Fremont High School in Los Angeles. Four years later, Suttle finished up as the school’s all-time leader in points, field goals made, assists, steals and games played.
While most of those records have been broken in the decades since, Suttle still holds the scoring mark with a total of 1,701 points. An outstanding shooter who excelled in pressure situations, Suttle earned raves from opponents’ coaches, including Loyola Marymount’s Ed Goorjian (“I don’t think I’ve seen a better shooter than him this year”) and Cal State Fullerton’s George McQuarn (“You always have to be concerned with Suttle. He can hurt you at anytime, anywhere.”).
After averaging 23.4 points per game as a senior in 1982-83 – the third-best average in school single-season history and a figure that ranked him 14th nationally – Suttle was named All-American honorable mention by the Associated Press and shared the West Coast Conference’s Player of the Year award.
Suttle also averaged 16.8 points as a junior, leading to All-WCC first team honors, and 15.1 as a sophomore.
Only five players in Pepperdine history have scored at least 40 points in a game, and Suttle accomplished the feat when he poured in 41 points in a 101-92 victory at rival LMU during his senior year.
Over his four seasons playing for head coach Jim Harrick, the Waves went 75-39 (.658), won at least a share of three WCC regular-season titles and advanced to the postseason three times. Pepperdine appeared in the NIT his freshman year and in the NCAA Tournament when he was a junior and senior.
Suttle was taken by the Kansas City Kings in the seventh round of the 1983 NBA Draft, and he would play two seasons for the Kings. In his best-ever game he scored 26 points at Detroit during his rookie campaign. For his career he averaged 5.6 points in 46 games.
He later went into coaching, and currently serves as an assistant coach at Cal State Los Angeles. He’s been a professional trainer and consultant, working with former and present NBA players. He coached and traveled with the French National Team in 2004, which included NBA players Tony Parker and Tariq Abdul-Wahad.
In 2006-07, he was part of the coaching staff at View Park High School and helped the team to a CIF championship and the state finals. Suttle was the head coach of the San Diego Wildfire semi-pro team in 2001. He’s also coached Adidas Pump N Run AAU teams.
Suttle, who returned to Pepperdine to earn his bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1994, has three children: Cache, Audom and Dane Jr. (the last of which was a four-year letterwinner at Pepperdine who graduated earlier this year). He also has a granddaughter, Jade.
