Feb. 2, 2008

by Jim Masilak, Memphis Commercial Appeal - Read the complete Memphis Commercial Appeal story

Myron Strong knew things were going to be different in San Francisco the first time Eddie Sutton gave him a hickey.

Sutton, the legendary former Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State coach who emerged from retirement last month to coach the Dons on an interim basis, uses the so-called Hickey System in practice to reward or punish his players.

"When you do good, you get stars. When you mess up, you get hickeys," said Strong, a freshman guard at USF and a former Hamilton High standout. "At the end of practice, if you have more hickeys than stars, you run."

It took Strong a while to get comfortable playing for 71-year-old Sutton, whose next win will be the 800th of his career.