I was so sorry to learn of the passing of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who was one of the classiest guys I've met in my 42 years in broadcasting.
He was a winner -- a Frank Lloyd Wright-type architect at the University of Arizona. Olson set the stage for that success in Tucson as a junior college coach, then was successful at Long Beach State and Iowa, taking the Hawkeyes to the Final Four in 1980.
Olson had that special way of getting guys to play together. They were about team, sharing the basketball, defending, performing in a positive way. He loved his players, and he had many good ones. Think about Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Mike Bibby, Damon Stoudamire, Miles Simon, Tom Tolbert ... and the list goes on and on.
I remember having good times talking with him. Olson was the one coach who called me "Dukie V," saying I gave too much love to the Blue Devils. He said I talked about JJ Redick being a great shooter; and I should come out and do some Arizona games and watch Stoudamire, who according to Lute was an even better shooter! I loved that Olson had such a belief in his player, and wanted to make sure he got some credit. I told him Duke was popular on TV and I had to do the games my bosses assigned me. We laughed about it.
But I remember calling a number of Arizona games over the years. I would see Lute and his wife Bobbi (who passed away tragically of ovarian cancer in 2001) -- they were a dynamic duo together, truly in love, respecting each other. They operated as such a team.
Olson built Arizona from nowhere and took the Wildcats to the national championship in 1997. Think about that great run in the tournament, beating three No. 1 seeds -- North Carolina, Kansas and then Kentucky in the championship game. They beat a Jayhawks team that was one of the best to fall short of cutting down the nets as a champion. Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz, Scot Pollard, Jacque Vaughn, Jerod Haase ... wow! People forget that KU team had one loss, against Missouri, before Arizona sent them to the sidelines, baby.
That Wildcats squad was special with Bibby, Simon, Jason Terry, Michael Dickerson and Bennett Davidson, among others. Josh Pastner, now the head coach at Georgia Tech, was a walk-on on that squad and has said he learned so much from Olson.
Lute knew how to get the most out of his players, which was why that 1997 team was able to make history. Perimeter play was so vital in that title run -- Olson understood the strengths of his team.
It has been a tough year for college basketball, losing first Eddie Sutton then Lou Henson and now Olson. That's three Final Four coaches who meant so much to several schools. May they all rest in peace.