Lute Olsen Retires

As you’re probably aware already, Lute Olsen has retired from his head coaching job at Arizona. Olsen had been with the Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team for 24 seasons, although last year he left for a time to deal with some off-the-court issues of a personal nature. This time, Olsen’s retirement is for real.

There are all sorts of articles out there about how and why Lute Olsen retired. Could he have stepped down more gracefully? Who will be called up to replace him? How big are the shoes that the new coach will have to fill? A common trend right now is claiming that one could see this retirement coming. However, the Final Four blog is unimpressed with Andy Katz and Garry Parrish claiming to have seen this thing coming. Let’s look at the facts. First off he’s 74 years old, and while that might make him a viable candidate for the presidency, the day-to-day coaching grind is probably a little harder on the joints than being a senator. Second, it was very clear that he was having some troubles off the court. Third, he has a fantastic history with the team, he’s already achieved so much, and he probably wouldn’t add much to his history by staying on.

It’s a bit like “predicting” that 81-year-old Penn State football coach Joe Paterno will retire after this season if the Nittany Lions win the national title. How hard are these predictions?

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on October 24, 2008 - Post a comment