KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NABC joins in mourning the passing of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson. A former national champion and NABC Coach of the Year, Olson died on Thursday at the age of 85.
“Lute Olson is one of the finest coaches in college basketball history,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “His impressive list of on-court accomplishments speaks for itself, and his impact on the lives of countless student-athletes and fellow coaches cannot be overstated. He will be dearly missed, and will be forever remembered as one of our sport’s great ambassadors.”
Olson won 781 games over his decorated career – the 14th-most in Division I history – as the head coach at Arizona, Iowa and Long Beach State. He reached five Final Fours and led Arizona to the 1997 national championship and a return trip to the national title game in 2001. He was also the head coach of the 1986 FIBA World Championship gold medal team – the last college gold medal team in the World Championship or Olympics.
Olson was named the NABC Division I Coach of the Year in 1980 and was awarded the NABC Golden Anniversary Award for long and outstanding service to basketball in 2017. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame’s founding class in 2006.
