Who is lute olson

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That Arizona win, 23 years ago, is the most recent national championship for a team in the Pac He is one of only 14 men's coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four.

Olson coached Arizona for the final 24 seasons of his career. He won 11 Pac conference championships, and in his final 20 seasons, according to the University of Arizona, Olson had the third-best winning percentage of any coach in men's college basketball. Olson won games in what was then known as the Pac; his victory total still stands as the most in conference history. The only coach in league lore with a better win percentage than Olson was a man by the name of John Wooden.

He was a tremendous teacher of the game. He was a relentless recruiter. He was an astute evaluator of talent. He was a fierce and confident leader. He was more than a coach to all of his players. To this day, there is a connection and closeness between generations of Arizona players that will last forever.

Robert Luther Olson was born on a farm on Sept. Olson lost his father to a stroke when he was 5 years old, an affliction that would in part force the end of his coaching career more than 65 years later. As a teenager, Olson was a great athlete. He won a state basketball title for his North Dakota High School, then went on to be a standout in football, basketball and baseball at Minneapolis' Augsburg College in the mids. Olson coached basketball at the high school level for 11 years in his 20s and 30s before moving on to junior college and eventually into the D-I rank.

According to the University of Arizona, Olson was on the bench for 1, wins in his career as a head coach, dating back to his first gig with Minnesota's Mahnomen High School in and including his time coaching junior college before working the sideline for his first year of D-I duty with Long Beach State in Olson inherited an Arizona team coming off a season. Being part of the U of A basketball family changed my life forever.

He was a fierce and confident leader. He was more than a coach to all of his players. To this day, there is a connection and closeness between generations of Arizona players that will last forever. Born on a farm outside Mayville, North Dakota, on Sept. He started his career as a high school coach in Minnesota and Southern California before becoming the head coach at Long Beach City College, where he won the state junior college title in In , he took over at Long Beach State, where he went , before being hired at Iowa the following season.

The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury issued a joint statement, calling Olson "a bright light in our industry. Suns owner Robert Sarver added, "I have lost a friend and role model. Lute always exuded such class, confidence and integrity.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Lute Olson, Arizona coaching great, dies at Arizona Wildcats. Gonzaga beats Texas: What we learned and what it could mean in March. Gonzaga Bulldogs. Timme nets career-high 37 as Zags roll past Texas. CP3 pep talk spurred UC Riverside buzzer-beater. UC Riverside Highlanders. North Carolina Tar Heels. NC State's Bates shoulder out rest of season.

NC State Wolfpack. He led Arizona to 20 straight win seasons and is one of five coaches in NCAA history with 29 seasons of at least 20 wins. A statue of Olson holding the national title trophy was unveiled outside McKale Center in I love you Coach O. Olson had a series of health issues late in his coaching career, leading to his retirement in Arizona announced minutes before the season opener that Olson would take an indefinite leave of absence. Olson was set to return for the season, but the school announced his retirement after he missed practice and a function in Tucson.

His doctor held a news conference five days later, saying Olson had an initially undiagnosed stroke earlier in the year, causing depression and impaired judgment. Olson also was hospitalized in after suffering a minor stroke.

Olson remained in Tucson and became a regular at McKale Center during his retirement, drawing cheers every time he appeared on the video board. Bobbi Olson died in due to complications from ovarian cancer. Olson remarried twice and is survived by his third wife, Kelly, and five children. I am forever grateful to be a part of the basketball program and community that he impacted so immensely.