Hall of Fame basketball coach Lute Olson, who was one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history, has died. He was 85.
KOLD News 13 reported. The cause of death was not given.” data-reactid=”30″>Lute’s son Greg and his wife Stacy confirmed the news of his death on Thursday evening, Arizona media outlet KOLD News 13 reported. The cause of death was not given.
ESPN.” data-reactid=”31″>Olson was hospitalized back in 2019 after suffering a minor stroke and was recently moved into hospice care, according to ESPN.
He is survived by his third wife Kelly Pugnea, whom he married in 2010, alongside his five children.
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Lute Olson
Born outside of Mayville, North Dakota, on September 22, 1934, Olsen started his career as a high school coach in Minnesota and Southern California before becoming the head coach at Long Beach City College, ESPN reported.
From 1973 to the following year, Olsen took over as coach at Long Beach State before he was hired at the University of Iowa the next season. There, he coached the Hawkeyes to the NCAA tournament five times in nine seasons.
USA Today.” data-reactid=”57″>In 1974, Olson surprised many and left Iowa to coach for the University of Arizona, where he reworked their program and “led the Wildcats to their first winning season in six years and what would be the first of 23 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances,” according to USA Today.
CBS News reported.” data-reactid=”58″>Olson “won a school-record 589 games at Arizona, 11 Pac-10 titles and was named the conference coach of the year seven times,” CBS News reported.
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Olson, who coached several basketball stars who have also made careers in the NBA, was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.
The famed coach suffered from a series of health issues later in his career, according to CBS News, leading to his retirement in 2008.
Olson was scheduled to return for the 2008 to 2009 season, but the university announced his retirement after he missed practice and a function in Tucson. His doctor later held a news conference, during which he shared that Olson had an initially undiagnosed stroke earlier in the year, which caused him depression and impaired judgment.
ESPN reported at the time.” data-reactid=”64″>Later in April 2018, Olson was honored by the University of Arizona, who erected a statue of him on their campus. The unveiling was attended by many former Arizona players as well as Olson’s family, ESPN reported at the time.
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Many of those who knew Olson paid tribute to him since his death, including Robert C. Robbins, who said, “Lute Olson was so much more than a basketball coach.”
“He was an educator, a motivator, a husband, a father, a grandfather and a friend to so many,” he said in a statement obtained by ESPN. “He was a true leader in every sense of the word and displayed such integrity and compassion in every endeavor. While Coach will no longer be with us, his presence will be felt for generations to come.”
Current Arizona coach Sean Miller said he learned a lot about Olson from speaking with his former players, as well as from the people in the Tucson community.
“He had no weaknesses as a coach,” Miller said. “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.”
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tweeted. “He was an amazing coach & a wonderful man. Being part of the U of A basketball family changed my life forever. I will never forget Coach O, those awesome nights at McKale and all my teammates. Thank you Coach- I love you!”” data-reactid=”76″>”It’s hard to put into words how much Lute Olson meant to me,” Golden State Warriors coach, and former Olson player, Steve Kerr tweeted. “He was an amazing coach & a wonderful man. Being part of the U of A basketball family changed my life forever. I will never forget Coach O, those awesome nights at McKale and all my teammates. Thank you Coach- I love you!”
tweet. “I’ll always feel like you never got the credit you deserved as a leader, family man, grandfather, coach and as a mentor. I love you Coach O.”” data-reactid=”77″>”It’s rare that a man is a Hall of Famer and still under appreciated,” former Arizona star and retired NBA player Richard Jefferson said in his own tweet. “I’ll always feel like you never got the credit you deserved as a leader, family man, grandfather, coach and as a mentor. I love you Coach O.”
writing, “Thank you coach for taking a chance on some skinny kid from Chandler, Az. I owe my whole basketball career to you and what you taught me. I’m gonna miss you.”” data-reactid=”78″>Chandler Frye also shared his sentiments on social media, writing, “Thank you coach for taking a chance on some skinny kid from Chandler, Az. I owe my whole basketball career to you and what you taught me. I’m gonna miss you.”
post.” data-reactid=”79″>”It was always bigger than basketball with his players! #CoachO,” Damon Stoudamire added in his tribute post.