At 68, Lute Olson is at the peak of his game.
His Arizona Wildcats are the No. 1-ranked team in the country, and Olson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last June, though he missed the ceremony to attend his son Steve’s wedding in Italy.
“The night it was happening, it was like 2:30 in the morning in Italy, and I was probably sound asleep at the time,” Olson said.
The Wildcats, preparing to try to win their second national championship under Olson, will be in Los Angeles this week to defend their Pacific-10 Conference tournament title.
And in a bit of news, Olson, widowed in 2001, will marry Christine Toretti, 48, a Pennsylvania oil and gas executive and Republican activist, on April 12, shortly after the Final Four.
Q. Despite the advantages in the bracket, is it harder to win as a No. 1?
A. Well, if you look at the history of it, it has not been very often that the No. 1-ranked team has been able to go through and win the whole thing. I think with the fact that the seniors on this team were in the championship game a couple of years ago, they really have a feel for what it takes. I don’t think (being No. 1 ) will affect our preparation.
Q. You’ve been opposed to the Pac-10 tournament.
A. I still am. To play 18 and the tournament, I think, is really ridiculous. We’re asking a lot from student-athletes. There’s so much talk from the Pac-10 and the presidents about how to cut back on days (of class) missed. . . . I feel at times the conference talks out of both sides of its mouth. And if you check it out, people say, `Well, it gives another team a chance to get in (the NCAA tournament).’ That’s a bunch of garbage. More teams have been eliminated as a result of conference tournaments than have gotten in.
Q. Segueing to UCLA, what qualities do you think it’s going to take for the next coach to succeed there?
A. I don’t know what that’s going to take, because I’ve said many times I think the three toughest jobs in the country are UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky. The expectation is that you should win the NCAA title every year.
Q. You’re in the Hall of Fame and have won a national championship. What drives you now?
A. It’s not that we’re working any different, but with the emergence of the program and the national championship and being in the finals again two years ago, our recruiting now is such that we’re able to go have a shot at kids anywhere in the country. Depending on how others rate it, it will be the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. We have a higher profile than before. Now, if we can start collecting national championships, I don’t know. …
Q. Do you envision a time in your life without basketball?
A. Basically, what I’ve gone on is this: As long as I have my health–and I work out daily–and as long as I feel can communicate with the players and am able to do a good job with them, and as long as I enjoy it, I don’t envision not coaching. I never imagined I’d coach as long as I have. When I came here from Iowa, I thought this would be a nice place to coach, and when I decided to give it up, it would be a nice place to be. At that point, I was thinking I’d be here maybe 10 or 12 years and maybe give it up. Now I’m in my 20th, and I’m still going.
