Athletes - Lute Olson

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	Athletes - Lute Olson

Robert "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934 in Mayville, North Dakota) is the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He is one of the UA's highest-paid employees, though a substantial percentage of his salary is supplemented by private interests (primarily UA alumni organizations). The 2005–06 season is his 23rd season there. Olson is known for his ability to recruit players with enormous talent, many of whom have gone on to impressive careers in the NBA.

Prior to his tenure with the Arizona Wildcats, Olson coached the University of Iowa and Long Beach State basketball teams. Olson has been voted Pac-10 Coach of the Year seven times. He has made 5 Final Four appearances. In once instance (1997), his team went on to win the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. During that 1997 March Madness tournament, his team accomplished the unprecedented and unequaled feat of beating three number one seeds in the same tournament. In 2002, Lute Olson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

On March 15, 2005, his granddaughter, Julie Brase, was named an assistant coach of the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brase played for the women's basketball team at the University of Arizona as a starting player for four years and had served as an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount University. She also worked as an assistant coach at Lute Olson's basketball camps.

Coaching Highlights

# In over 30 seasons as a Division I head coach he has compiled a 741-256 record (.743) # Compiled a 180-76 (.703) record coaching high school basketball # Led Long Beach City College to California JUCO State Champions (1971) # Led Long Beach City College to three Metro Conference titles (1970, 1971, 1973) # Named Metro Conference Coach of the Year three times (1970, 1971, 1973) # One of 8 coaches in collegiate history to coach in five or more Final Fours # One of 11 coaches who have taken two different teams to the Final Four # Led Iowa to NCAA Final Four (1980) and left Iowa as the winningest coach in school history (168-90, .651) # Led Iowa to Big Ten Championship (1979) # Led Iowa to 5 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament to finish his career, a record at the time # Left Iowa as the winningest coach in school history (168-90) # Led Arizona to ten Pac-10 championships (1986,'88, '89, '90, '91, '93, '94, '98, '2000, 2003) # Averaged nearly 25 victories per year in over 20 years at Arizona # Averaged nearly 23 victories per year in over 30 years of coaching # Has led Arizona to 17 consecutive 20-win seasons # Compiled 29 winning seasons in over 30 years of coaching # Is one of only five head coaches in NCAA history to record 26 or more 20-win seasons # One of three coaches in league history to win more than 275 Pac-10 games # Owns second best winning percentage in Pac-10 history (290-84, .775) # Led Arizona to four NCAA Final Four appearances (1988, '94, '97, 2001) and one NCAA Championship (1997) # Arizona's 22 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the longest current streak in college basketball and is second longest in NCAA history (behind North Carolina's 27) # His 45 NCAA tournament wins are second most among active coaches; fourth all-time # His 26 tournament appearances are second most among active coaches; third all-time # Is 25-10 in his last 35 NCAA Tournament appearances # Arizona's 1997 NCAA championship team was the first and only team in history to beat three No. 1 seeds in the same tournament # Guided Arizona to 11 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in the last 18 years # U.S. Coach, R. William Jones Cup Champions (1984) # U.S. Coach, World Championship Gold Medal (1986) # Coach of the Year Awards: National Coach of the Year (1988, '90), CBS-TV Coach of the Year (1989), Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1986, '88, '89, 93, '94, '98, 2003), NABC District 15 Coach of the Year (1989, '93, '94), USBWA District 8 Coach of the Year (1988, '93), Big Ten Coach of the Year (1979, '81), PCAA Coach of the Year (1974), Western Region Coach of the Year (1974), Basketball Times West Region Coach of the Year (1998), Naismith National Coach of the Year Finalist (1998)

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Athletes - Lute Olson

Coaching Highlights

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