Lute Olson

Robert "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934 in Mayville, North Dakota) is the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He is one of the University's highest-paid employees. The 2004–05 season is his 22nd season there. Olson is known for his ability to recruit players with enormous talent, many of whom have gone on to impressive careers in the NBA.

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September 22 - 1934 - Mayville, North Dakota - University of Arizona - Tucson, Arizona - NBA

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Prior to his tenure with the Arizona Wildcats, Olson coached the University of Iowa and Long Beach State basketball teams. Olson has been voted Pac-10 Coach of the Year seven times. He has made 5 Final Four appearances, one of which in 1997 his team went on to win the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. During that 1997 March Madness tournament, his team accomplished the unprecedented and unequaled feat of beating three number one seeds in the same tournament. In 2002, Lute Olson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

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University of Iowa - Long Beach State - Pac-10 - 2002 - Basketball Hall of Fame

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On March 15, 2005, his granddaughter, Julie Brase, was named an assistant coach of the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brase played for the women's basketball team at the University of Arizona as a starting player for four years and had served as an assistant coach at Loyola Marymount University. She also worked as an assistant coach at Lute Olson's basketball camps.

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March 15 - 2005 - Phoenix Mercury - Women's National Basketball Association - University of Arizona - Loyola Marymount University

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