Hall of Fame basketball coach Lute Olson, who made Arizona a national power and led the Wildcats to the school’s only NCAA championship, has died at the age of 85.
Olson was hospitalized after suffering a stroke last year and was recently transferred to hospice care.
The day he died on Thursday was confirmed by the family to the Arizona media.
Olson went 589-187 in 24 seasons in Arizona, leading the Wildcats to four Final Four appearances, 23 consecutive NCAA tournaments, and 11 Pac-10 titles, and the 1997 national title.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2018, a statue of Olson was erected in front of the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson. The home court of the Wildcats in McKale was named in his honor in 2000, then became “Lute and Bobbi Olson Court” a year later to honor his late wife.
Many former Wildcats players used social media Thursday night to praise the beloved coach, who finished with a record 776-285 in 34 seasons in Arizona, Iowa and the state of Long Beach.
Without you there would be no me. Have a peaceful rest #CoachO #Suppress pic.twitter.com/XUTQwuJqNk
– Jason “The Jet” Terry (@ jasonterry31) August 28, 2020
It is rare for a man to be a Hall of Famer and still be underrated. I will always feel like you never received the recognition you deserved as a leader, family man, grandfather, coach, and mentor. I love you Coach O ????⬇️
– Richard Jefferson (@ Rjeff24) August 28, 2020
Thank you, Trainer, for taking a chance on a skinny kid in Chandler, Az. I owe you my entire basketball career and what you taught me. I’ll miss you. pic.twitter.com/yRIBVKM137
– Channing Frye (@channingfrye) August 28, 2020
I told Denny Crum I was coming to Louisville. Midnight chimes called. We talked for 3 hours! He changed my mind and then changed my life! Never really in my eyes got the recognition he deserved. But it’s okay! I love you daddy lute !! ????????????????
– Damon Stoudamire (@ Iambiggie503) August 28, 2020
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played under Olson in Arizona from 1983 to 1988, paid tribute to him in a tweet late Thursday.
“It’s hard to put into words how much Lute Olson meant to me. He was a great coach and a wonderful man. Being part of the U of A basketball family changed my life forever. I’ll never be Coach O.” forget those great nights at McKale and all of my teammates. Thank you Coach – I love you! “
Georgia Tech coach and former Arizona player Josh Pastner called Olson “the absolute best, one of the greatest coach of all time, and one of the greatest people of all time”.
“My feelings of gratitude and appreciation cannot be expressed in words,” he wrote in a tweet. “I love him very much. My heart hurts, but I know he is in heaven now. May God bless his family.”
Arizona won just four games in 1982-83, the season prior to Olson’s arrival in Tucson, and had reached the NCAA tournament twice since 1951.
But the Wildcats quickly turned things around under Olson, entering the NCAA tournament in his sophomore year, and advancing into the school’s first Final Four in the 1987-88 season when they finished 35-3.
Arizona reached the Final Four again in 1994 before winning its first and only NCAA title in 1997 when freshman Mike Bibby and junior Miles Simon Olson and the Wildcats overtook Kentucky in the championship game. This team remains the only one since the start of the sowing in 1979 to beat three No. 1 seeds on the way to winning the title.
The Wildcats entered the national championship game under Olson in 2001 when they were defeated by Duke.
In total, Olson won seven NCAA tournament games against the No. 1 (7-5 record). The only coach to have won more games like this since 1979 is Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who is 8-7 in those games.
“Lute Olson was so much more than a basketball coach,” said Robert C. Robbins, president of the University of Arizona. “He has been an educator, motivator, husband, father, grandfather and friend to so many. He was a true leader in every way and showed such integrity and compassion in every endeavor. While Coach will no longer do this. ” Be with us, his presence will be felt for future generations. “
Current Arizona coach Sean Miller said he learned a lot about Olson from speaking to his former players and people in the Tucson community.
“He had no weaknesses as a coach,” said Miller. “He was an excellent teacher of the game. He was a relentless recruiter. He was a smart assessor of talent. He was a fierce and confident leader. He was more than a coach to all of his players. He’s still around today.” a bond and closeness between generations of Arizona gamblers that will last forever. “
Olson was born on September 22, 1934 on a farm outside Mayville, North Dakota. He led his high school team to the 1952 state championship and was a three-sport athlete from 1953 to 1956 at Augsburg College, Minnesota.
He began his career as a high school coach in Minnesota and Southern California before becoming head coach at Long Beach City College, where he won the title of State Junior College in 1971.
He took over at Long Beach State in 1973-74, where he went 24-2 before being hired in Iowa the following season. He coached the Hawkeyes five times in nine seasons for the NCAA tournament.
The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury issued a joint statement calling Olson “a bright light in our industry”.
“While his career in the Hall of Fame will be remembered for the championship program he built in Tucson, his legacy is rooted in the mentor he was to young men, the teacher he was on and off the pitch , and the difference he’s made in the life of so many, “the teams said in the statement.
Sun’s owner Robert Sarver added, “I’ve lost a friend and role model. Laute always exuded such class, confidence and integrity. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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