By Brad Young
Posted 10/25/2008 at 05:25 PM

Arizona head basketball coach Lute Olson retired after 24 years at the school where he led the Wildcats to four Final Fours that included the 1997 NCAA title.  The 74-year-old went 589-187 during his Arizona tenure, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Arizona became the only school to ever beat three number one seeds en route to the 1997 title after knocking off heavily favored Kansas in the Sweet 16, North Carolina in the semifinals and Kentucky in the title game.  That was the last game that North Carolina's Dean Smith ever coached, and it was also Rick Pitino's last game at the University of Kentucky.  Arizona was a four-seed in the Southeast Region that year.

Kentucky would have been remembered as one of college basketball's greatest teams if it would have won three championships in a row, but the school has to settle for titles in 1996 and 1998.  Arizona outlasted Kentucky in overtime for the 1997 championship, 84-79, getting all 10 of its overtime points from the free-throw line.

How important has Olson been to the Arizona program?  He is responsible for 38 percent of the school's all-time 1,547 victories, turning a program that had no winning history into a juggernaut.  The Wildcats were 4-24 including a 1-17 Pac-10 record under head coach Ben Lindsey the year before Olson arrived in Tucson.  A quick search on Wikipedia seperates Arizona basketball into 'The Early Years' and 'The Lute Olson Era.'

Olson's only losing campaign in Tucson occurred during his first season with the school (1983-84), but the Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament the next year.  Arizona has advanced to the NCAA Tournament every season since, which is currently at 24 years in a row.  North Carolina made the NCAA Tournament a record 27 years in a row from 1975-2001.

With all the success and accolades, there have been a few chinks in the Arizona armor over the years.  There were notable first-round flameouts from teams that were seeded very high in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1999.  Arizona basketball has seemed to come full circle the past few seasons, exiting the NCAA Tournament in the first round the last two years.  The Wildcats were first-round fodder in 1985, 1986 and 1987 before reaching the 1988 Final Four.

Bobbi Olson, Lute's wife of 47 years, passed away on New Year's Day of 2001 and Lute took off a couple of weeks to mourn.  The basketball court at Arizona's McKale Center is named the Lute and Bobbi Olson Court.  That season, he took his team all the way to the national championship game before losing to Duke.  That team was loaded with future NBA players Gilbert Arenas, Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton and Loren Woods.

Olson unexpectedly married again just two years later in a marriage that lasted four years, prompting him to take a leave of absence right before the 2007 season.  Former assistant coach Kevin O'Neill was brought in before the leave of absence, and was quickly installed as the interim coach and eventual successor to Olson.

However, O'Neill's abrasive demeanor quickly turned off all the players, administration and even Olson himself. The school found itself in a professional pickle by promising O'Neill the head coaching job even though he was a horrible fit in Tucson.  It was originally thought that bringing in a head coach with college and pro experience would be a plus, providing a contingency plan for the aging Olson. 

Arizona then stated that Olson would return for the 2008-09 campaign, moving O'Neill to a fundraising role and off the coaching bench.  O'Neill, not wanting to wait until Olson retired, accepted an assistant coaching job recently with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.

It is my belief that Olson wanted to retire last year, but the whole O'Neill situation was handled so badly that it forced his hand to return briefly.  Olson cleaned house concerning the coaching staff the past couple of months, bringing in three new assistants.

Things have deteriorated so much in the Arizona athletic program the past few years that Athletic Director Jim Livengood heard about Olson's retirement on ESPN.  It was kind of ironic that ESPN's Dick Vitale broke the story considering Olson called him 'Duke' Vitale for his perceived favoritism towards coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils.

The retirement comes at a particularly bad time, leaving Arizona with interim head coach Russ Pennell for the season.  Assistant head coach Mike Dunlap declined the offer to move into the head position.  Recruits have also bailed out on the Wildcats, leaving a potentially top-10 class in 2009 with three players who have de-committed. 

Arizona's biggest concern right now involves next season and what coach will continue the legacy.  Livengood does not have a proven track record in hires, bumbling the football decision in 2001 that brought in the horrific John Mackovic regime to the desert.  Some names that are being mentioned are Gonzaga's Mark Few, Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon and Baylor's Scott Drew.