Lute Olson
| Sport(s) | Basketball | ||||||||||||
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| Biographical details | |||||||||||||
| Born |
September 22, 1934 Mayville, North Dakota |
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| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| 1953–1956 | Augsburg | ||||||||||||
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |||||||||||||
| 1956–1957 | Mahnomen HS | ||||||||||||
| 1957–1961 | Two Harbors HS | ||||||||||||
| 1962–1963 | Western HS (asst.) | ||||||||||||
| 1963–1964 | Loara HS | ||||||||||||
| 1964–1969 | Marina HS | ||||||||||||
| 1969–1973 | Long Beach CC | ||||||||||||
| 1973–1974 | Long Beach State | ||||||||||||
| 1974–1983 | Iowa | ||||||||||||
| 1983–2008 | Arizona | ||||||||||||
| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||
| Overall | 781–280 (.736) | ||||||||||||
| Accomplishments and honors | |||||||||||||
| Championships | |||||||||||||
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1 NCAA Division I Tournament Championship (1997) 5 NCAA Regional Championships - Final Four (1980, 1988, 1994, 1997, 2001) 4 Pac-10 Tournament Championships (1988, 1989, 1990, 2002) 11 Pac-10 Regular Season Championships (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005) 1 Big West Regular Season Championship (1974) 1 Big Ten Regular Season Championship (1979) |
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| Awards | |||||||||||||
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2 National Coach of the Year (1988, 1990) 7 Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1986, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2003) 2 Big Ten Coach of the Year (1979, 1981) |
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Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2002 |
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College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006 |
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Medal record
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Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934) is an American retired basketball coach. He was most recently head coach of the University of Arizona's men's team for 25 years. He was also head coach at the University of Iowa for nine years and California State University, Long Beach for one season. Olson was known for player development, and many of his former players have gone on to impressive careers in the NBA. On October 23, 2008, Olson announced his retirement from coaching.
Olson was born in Mayville, North Dakota of Norwegian-American parentage, and was coached by the legendary high school basketball coach Father Blaine Cook of St. Mary's Parish. Olson is a graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from Augsburg, Olson coached high school basketball for 13 seasons in Mahnomen and Two Harbors, Minnesota, and Anaheim and Huntington Beach, California. He then coached basketball for four years at Long Beach City College prior to entering the NCAA coaching ranks in 1973.
In his first and only season at Long Beach State, he led the team to an undefeated conference record and a Big West championship. Olson followed Jerry Tarkanian, who had built the program into a National power. They were ranked #3 behind Bill Walton's UCLA and eventual champion North Carolina State. They were unable to play in the NCAA tournament due to being put on a 3-year probation mid-season, due to infractions from the Jerry Tarkanian era. Many believe this was Lute's best team, including the Arizona 1997 NCAA title team. He coached Iowa to a Final Four appearance in 1980, losing to eventual NCAA champion Louisville in the national semifinal. After leading the Hawkeyes to the Sweet Sixteen in 1983, Olson surprised many by leaving for an Arizona program that was one of the worst in the nation. The program had just suffered the worst season in school history, having won only four games all season and one game in Pac-10 play. He said he left Iowa because life there had become a "fishbowl" and he needed a change.
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