BREAKING NEWS: KO officially to take over once Lute retires

[Arizona's Finest]

Just heard breaking news on SportsCenter - said press conference to take place before the end of the year.

The whole "As the Lute turns" soap opera just keeps on going.....

 

[HooverDam]

Interesting. Him and Herb Sendek can have a hair culdisac duel.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Shocking, you really think a former NBA and D1 head coach would take Pac-10 assistant coaching gig if there wasn't any promises? This move by Shelton and Lute was the best they could do to ensure the future success of the program. No long drawn-out search that divides opinions, no coaches using Arizona as leverage causing public embarrassment, and best of all no Jim Livengood. This is how many programs these days are doing it (Michigan State and Purdue are a great example, also Florida State in football) so we shall see. If the early results are any indicator, we're in for another good ride through the next few years.

Although it will be weird not hearing "Gosh darn it!" echoing through McKale Center.

 

[Lefty]

This is really not shocking news. I think Lute brought KO in to replace him. It's the perfect transaction. Now there won't be any negative affects with recruiting. KO has recently received endorsements from former players, including Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr.

I would like to see Lute come back next year for one more year. He deserves a final goodbye tour. Plus, next year's team is loaded if Chase and/or Bayless come back.

 

[Dback Jon]

I actually have to agree with Mao on this - I figured this was the plan all along.

 

[Skkorpion]

Smart move on timing too. Lets the recruits know for sure who is in charge.

 

[green machine]

I hope Lute never comes back.

It's obvious (at least to me) that Lute hasn't been a good gameday coach in at least a few years, with teams giving no effort and players generally not getting better over the course of the season. So far this season that seems to have changed, and I strongly believe it is because of the man leading the team.

Lute deserves to go out on his own terms, he's earned that, but if the team wins 20+ games and makes a deep tournament run how can you not think that they're better off without him?

The one caveat I have is that I'd like for Lute to stay on in a "consultant" type role, to help with recruiting and such. He hasn't seemed to lose any of his touch there.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Part of me hopes Lute comes back for one more run, convinces Bayless, Hill, and Budinger to suit up with him, and then rides off into the sunset with those guys and Jennings. He deserves to go out on a high note and it's not like he would be anything more than a figurehead. Time will tell, I think we'll be fine either way.

And Lute is already on as the consultant or CEO of Arizona Basketball. Why do you think Kevin O'Neill and not Jim Rosborough is on the sidelines?

 

[TucsonDevil]

As a Sun Devil Fan, I am going to miss Lute Olsen. Having lived in Tucson (and attended graduate school at the UofA) I came to respect and admire Lute. Farewell to a gentlemen and outstanding coach. I am very glad he was able to win a National Championship in his career... but the meltdown against Illinois still sticks in my craw. I am sad that it ended so suddenly without fanfare, but such is life.

I hope that Arizona Basketball continues to perform well on a National Level... it's the football that I hate.

 

[scXfreakX]

Not too surprising. We knew it was coming. Its still kinda sad. Such a great coach. But, this is good as it made it clear for recruits. I just hope that doesn't turn people away.

 

[overseascardfan]

Well atleast we know for sure and don't have to speculate anymore. Guess we won't be getting Mark Few, Rick Barnes, Mike Montgomery, Lorenzo Romar, etc.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

It would've been Few or Jamie Dixon if we were looking outside of the program.

Arizona would've had no interest in Romar (not very good), Barnes (too shady), or Monty (too old).

 

[Russ Smith]

There's a thread on my favorite UCLA site right now that has me wondering how old the guys posting on it are. They're saying if UA doesn't do well this year and next they're dead and they panic hired KO. I posted a have you guys ever seen KO's resume?

He was one of the key recruiters in the mid 80's when Lute was turning UA into a national power so the concern about recruiting seems unfounded to me. He was a hot coach until he took the marquette job, people expected him to get them back to where Al McGuire had them but IIRC they weren't in a major conference at teh time(may have been independent I don't remember) and it was MUCH tougher to recruit then because of tv if you weren't in a major conference. When Al was the coach tv games were once or twice a weekend so tv exposure wasn't a big factor in recruiting.

Floyd is using his NBA experience to recruit at USC, well O'Neill has more experience and he actually coached on some teams that won some games.

I think the big question is how much of Lute's assistants are still with UA when the program is truly KO's team? I'm guessing few.

 

[Lefty]

There's a thread on my favorite UCLA site right now that has me wondering how old the guys posting on it are. They're saying if UA doesn't do well this year and next they're dead and they panic hired KO. I posted a have you guys ever seen KO's resume?

He was one of the key recruiters in the mid 80's when Lute was turning UA into a national power so the concern about recruiting seems unfounded to me. He was a hot coach until he took the marquette job, people expected him to get them back to where Al McGuire had them but IIRC they weren't in a major conference at teh time(may have been independent I don't remember) and it was MUCH tougher to recruit then because of tv if you weren't in a major conference. When Al was the coach tv games were once or twice a weekend so tv exposure wasn't a big factor in recruiting.

Floyd is using his NBA experience to recruit at USC, well O'Neill has more experience and he actually coached on some teams that won some games.

I think the big question is how much of Lute's assistants are still with UA when the program is truly KO's team? I'm guessing few.

I like Josh Pastner but he coaches the big men and I do not see any development in the past few years with the big guys. Josh is a workaholic and a very good recruiter, but I wonder if he will be here much longer.

 

[Mulli]

So, KO is not taking over once he retires?

 

[Renz]

So, KO is not taking over once he retires?

Very doubtful, IMO. There are rumors of a rift between KO and Lute, but nothing confirmed that I've heard.

I expect KO to return to the NBA next season.