Former University of Iowa and Arizona coach Lute Olson, who turned the Arizona Wildcats into a national powerhouse, has died. He was 85. Olson’s family said he died Thursday evening. The cause of death wasn’t given.
Olson spent 24 seasons at Arizona, revitalizing a fan base in the desert while transforming a program that had been to the NCAA Tournament just three times in 79 years before he was hired in 1983. Olson first took the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament during his second season in Tucson to start a string of 25 straight appearances for Arizona. A run that would’ve been the third-longest in NCAA history, but the 1999 and 2000 appearances were later vacated by the NCAA for impermissible benefits to players and recruiting violations. The Wildcats won a national championship under Olson in 1997. Olson’s Arizona teams reached the Final Four four times and lost the 2001 national title game to Duke.
Olson won a school-record 589 games at Arizona, 11 Pac-10 titles and was named the conference coach of the year seven times. He led Arizona to 20 straight 20-win seasons and is one of five coaches in NCAA history with 29 seasons of at least 20 wins.
***Report courtesy of Metro Source Network***
