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Lute Olson

Fan In Black

HR Legend
Nov 9, 2001
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I was to young to remember Lute so Im curious. Everybody has had criticisms of every Iowa coach since. I understand he is the bar, but was there anything that Lute did that the fan based bitched about?
 
I was to young to remember Lute so Im curious. Everybody has had criticisms of every Iowa coach since. I understand he is the bar, but was there anything that Lute did that the fan based bitched about?
My,oh my, yes. O f course,there was the Wichita game . And any game Iowa lost close. Another thing is I remember one of his sons was applying to coach. Problem is I don't remember if it was City High or at Iowa? LOL But there was a lot of bitching about that.
 
Lute Olson was a class act. He said that he recruited
players who 1) were honest, 2) had good work ethic
3) were competitors 4) had right mental attitude
5) talented
 
Lute was a lot more controlling when he coached at Iowa than when he later coached at Arizona. I remember a game (facts may not be exactly correct) early in the season when Vince Brookins scored something like 20 points in the first 10 minutes. He could score any time he wanted against his opponent. Lute took him out and didn't play him the rest of the game. After the game when asked about Vince's great offensive outburst, Lute said something like he never had a player shoot so much in such a short time.

In the Wichita game, I believe it was Bobby Hansen who said that he knew there were no more timeouts, but Lute said to call it and since Lute expected his players to follow directions, he called it. The resulting technical ended any chance to win.

Lute was a very good coach, although he developed something with a few officials, like Jim Bain. That mutual dislike made it hard to win some games.
 
Iowa fans bitched about Lute embarrassing them because of his reaction after the Jim Bain fiasco. Lute chased after Bain after the game as Bain ran off the court. Lute, also, took exception to the Iowa fans who were never happy regardless of how well they did they always wanted more and expected more. In the end, Lute was not happy and had had enough.
 
My,oh my, yes. O f course,there was the Wichita game . And any game Iowa lost close. Another thing is I remember one of his sons was applying to coach. Problem is I don't remember if it was City High or at Iowa? LOL But there was a lot of bitching about that.

To best of my recollection Lute did not have any sons. I think you may be referrring to his son-in-law. I know Cal Wulfsbefg played for Iowa and married his daughter. I don’t recall any situation where he applied to coach but could have happened
 
I knew Lute a little bit. My company was a sponsor of "The Lute Olson" call in show on WHO for a couple of years. Lute was gracious and very professional but was thin skinned.
He wanted to be the king of the Big Ten but Bobby Knight and Gene Keady were ahead of him.
Lute got involved with some Iowa City business men and made some investments that were questionable in many people's eyes. Sharm Scheurmann is one who comes to mind who also left town quickly.
Suterman could probably add commentary on this if he desired.

Personally, I liked Lute and Bobbi . I hated to see him go but Iowa City wasn't big enough for him and I get it.
 
To best of my recollection Lute did not have any sons. I think you may be referrring to his son-in-law. I know Cal Wulfsbefg played for Iowa and married his daughter. I don’t recall any situation where he applied to coach but could have happened

Greg and Steve?
 
In his biography, "Lute! The Seasons of My Life"
published in 2006, he gives some reasons why
he left Iowa for Arizona.

1. The Cold Winters of Iowa which affected the
traveling conditions of his team.
2. The Fishbowl existence and lack of privacy
for himself.
3. His wife Bobbi and family wanted to move back
to the West.
 
He had some early exits in the NCAA tournament, and that continued somewhat at Arizona.
 
LOLOL, of course Iowa fans bitched, and a lot.

Lute stalled way too much, including entire overtimes as cries ring out throughout the fieldhouse Let em Play Lute let em play. And the mention of thin-skinned is 100% accurate, used to laugh at his post game interviews; his go to after a loss including a questionable decision or two was they shot better, sometimes games just come down to who shoots better. Got really pissy with follow-ups.

All in all a great coach and it was a sad day when he left, but he was far from perfect. Some believe he left because a scandal or two about his personal behavior was a brewing based upon.....leave it at that except to say some of his statements when Bobbi got sick rang very very hollow around town.
 
In his biography, "Lute! The Seasons of My Life"
published in 2006, he gives some reasons why
he left Iowa for Arizona.

1. The Cold Winters of Iowa which affected the
traveling conditions of his team.
2. The Fishbowl existence and lack of privacy
for himself.
3. His wife Bobbi and family wanted to move back
to the West.
I read that book and remember recruiting as a reason. Am I crazy? Probably.
 
Hated the four corner stall !
I believe Iowa's last Big Ten championship (co-championship) was Ronnie Lester's junior year. Basically, if Iowa was ahead with less than 7-8 minutes left in the game, Iowa went into a stall and there wasn't anything that opponents could do to stop it. In addition to Ronnie, Peth and Norman (two senior guards) were usually on the floor, and they seldom turned it over and made free throws... I am glad they instituted a shot clock, but ugly is in the eye of the beholder:) Ronnie Lester was special before he blew out his knee.
 
I read that book and remember recruiting as a reason. Am I crazy? Probably.
Maybe it was harder to recruit outside the midwest, but Lute was recruiting very successfully in last few years. I wish we had the connection in Chicago now that Lute had formed. His last recruiting class was Michael Payne and Greg Stokes, who were probably the top recruits coming out of Illinois and Ohio, respectfully. He also had recruited Brad Lohous for the following year...
 
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I was to young to remember Lute so Im curious. Everybody has had criticisms of every Iowa coach since. I understand he is the bar, but was there anything that Lute did that the fan based bitched about?

Context is always important. Lute won the Big Ten in 78-79 (that was the year Magic Johnson's MSU Spartans tied with Iowa and then Magic beat Bird in the epic NCAA title game. Following year Lester got hurt or Iowa was likely to win the league again. As it was, Lester came back at well less than 100%, and Iowa went to the Final 4 (where Lester got hurt again against Louisville). The following year Iowa went 13-5 in conference (4th place, the league was great), followed by 2nd place finishes in league, a 2nd round NCAA exit and a Sweet 16 appearance where Iowa lost to Villanova in Kansas City.

Believe it or not, people had started to think Lute "couldn't win the big ones" 4 years removed from a conference title and 3 years from a Final 4. Yes, there were segments of the fan base that thought this way. If message boards at that time, it would have been crazy. What we wouldn't give now for a 5-year stretch of conference title, Final 4, NCAA first round, NCAA 2nd round and NCAA Sweet 16. He did make noise about needing a new facility, which he finally got in CHA. And after 1 year in the new home, he left. And the rest is history in Arizona.

Raveling may have been a better recruiter, but Lute wasn't far behind Raveling in ability to recruit players from all around. And Olson was a far better in-game coach than Raveling would ever be. Will Iowa ever have a decade again in basketball equal to 1979-89? I hope so, but I'm not optimistic.
 
Lute was criticized by fans for his post game comments about how his players played. He could be pretty critical of his big men (and rebounding woes) and didn't hold back and called it as he saw it.

The late game stalling when Iowa had the lead was also a bone of contention for fans especially when free throws were missed allowing the other team to get back into the game. I particularly enjoyed Lute's disdain for Bobby Knight who had recruited Isaiah Thomas away from Iowa. They didn't appear to like each other very much.

The one thing that Lute always wanted above all things in recruiting was to have an ultra quick point guard that could penetrate the lane. He said Ronnie Lester was the best point guard that he ever had in his coaching career.
 
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Lute was criticized by fans for his post game comments about how his players played. He could be pretty critical of his big men (and rebounding woes) and didn't hold back and called it as he saw it.

The late game stalling when Iowa had the lead was also a bone of contention for fans especially when free throws were missed allowing the other team to get back into the game. I particularly enjoyed Lute's disdain for Bobby Knight who had recruited Isaiah Thomas away from Iowa. They didn't appear to like each other very much.

The one thing that Lute always wanted above all things in recruiting was to have an ultra quick point guard that could penetrate the lane. He said Ronnie Lester was the best point guard that he ever had in his coaching career.

Magic thought Ronnie was the best as well
 
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Context is always important. Lute won the Big Ten in 78-79 (that was the year Magic Johnson's MSU Spartans tied with Iowa and then Magic beat Bird in the epic NCAA title game. Following year Lester got hurt or Iowa was likely to win the league again. As it was, Lester came back at well less than 100%, and Iowa went to the Final 4 (where Lester got hurt again against Louisville). The following year Iowa went 13-5 in conference (4th place, the league was great), followed by 2nd place finishes in league, a 2nd round NCAA exit and a Sweet 16 appearance where Iowa lost to Villanova in Kansas City.

Believe it or not, people had started to think Lute "couldn't win the big ones" 4 years removed from a conference title and 3 years from a Final 4. Yes, there were segments of the fan base that thought this way. If message boards at that time, it would have been crazy. What we wouldn't give now for a 5-year stretch of conference title, Final 4, NCAA first round, NCAA 2nd round and NCAA Sweet 16. He did make noise about needing a new facility, which he finally got in CHA. And after 1 year in the new home, he left. And the rest is history in Arizona.

Raveling may have been a better recruiter, but Lute wasn't far behind Raveling in ability to recruit players from all around. And Olson was a far better in-game coach than Raveling would ever be. Will Iowa ever have a decade again in basketball equal to 1979-89? I hope so, but I'm not optimistic.
10 NCAA tourneys in 11 years. 4 sweet sixteens' or better. Fun times. Some tough losses during Lutes NCAA tournaments. Always competitive.
 
Lute, Ralph Miller and Bucky O’Connor are the gold standard for Iowa Men’s Basketball coaches. Moving to U of A was probably the best thing for him. It was much easier to recruit top flight talent, especially from California. Lute had previously coached at Long Beach so he had connections in the Southwest. BB is the biggest show in town in Tucson thanks to Lute. He is viewed in high esteem here. Would have loved to have him at Iowa for 25 years. We would have had multiple final four teams and maybe a championship banner. Having been wintering near Tucson, I can see why he came to UA.
 
The average fan, like me, worshipped Lute, but knew he disliked that fishbowl atmosphere of Iowa City and that Bobbi hated our weather. ( I lived 5 houses away from them in northern Iowa City & no one in the county got their street cleared before Bobbi, but It didn’t help). I always felt that assistant coach Tony McAndrews’s near fatal wintertime recruiting plane crash during the 1980 final 4 season was the last straw for both she & Lute staying here. Arizona was awhile away, but the West was whispering in Lute’s ear and already had Bobbi’s.
 
Lute indeed did have some head scratchers in the NCAA - but as I recall, they didn't exactly get a fair shake a couple of those years with bracket assignments.

Wichita State was a home game for them in the "Roundhouse" if I recall correct. The Idaho loss was in Pullman, Washington - which is something like 10 miles from where Idaho's campus is located.

I seem to recall both games were rather...oddly officiated. The Wichita State game was a raucous atmosphere, incredibly loud. I seem to recall WSU shooting an awful lot more FT's than Iowa did. WSU also had a couple NBA players on their team and I believe Cliff Levingston was a beast for them.

Idaho I believe, Iowa had a bunch of players foul out and had to use the last guy off the bench (Jerry Dennard) rather significantly and he played very well considering. I seem to remember Idaho didn't substitute at all and considering half of Iowa fouled out and Idaho didn't...head scratcher.
 
I am not sure how much it contributed, but Iowa got the short stick from officials a lot during Lute's last couple of years in Iowa City. Maybe fans were expecting too much after the final four appearance, but I think many fans were disappointed by some of the losses. Fans loved Lute, but it really was a high-visibility fishbowl.
 
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I am not sure how much it contributed, but Iowa got the short stick from officials a lot during Lute's last couple of years in Iowa City. Maybe fans were expecting too much after the final four appearance, but I think many fans were disappointed by some of the losses. Fans loved Lute, but it really was a high-visibility fishbowl.

There wasn't as much transparency with officials as there is today. He went after Bain and the old boy network kind of got together to defend their own.
 
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I knew Lute a little bit. My company was a sponsor of "The Lute Olson" call in show on WHO for a couple of years. Lute was gracious and very professional but was thin skinned.
He wanted to be the king of the Big Ten but Bobby Knight and Gene Keady were ahead of him.
Lute got involved with some Iowa City business men and made some investments that were questionable in many people's eyes. Sharm Scheurmann is one who comes to mind who also left town quickly.
Suterman could probably add commentary on this if he desired.

Personally, I liked Lute and Bobbi . I hated to see him go but Iowa City wasn't big enough for him and I get it.
I don't remember any hint of him leaving Iowa City because it was not big enough for him. I believe he left for Arizona for the health issues his wife had.
I believe George Ravling left because he could not go out without attracting people to he and his party.
 
The average fan, like me, worshipped Lute, but knew he disliked that fishbowl atmosphere of Iowa City and that Bobbi hated our weather. ( I lived 5 houses away from them in northern Iowa City & no one in the county got their street cleared before Bobbi, but It didn’t help). I always felt that assistant coach Tony McAndrews’s near fatal wintertime recruiting plane crash during the 1980 final 4 season was the last straw for both she & Lute staying here. Arizona was awhile away, but the West was whispering in Lute’s ear and already had Bobbi’s.
If I remember correctly, Bobbi also became fairly ill, and the doctors told them they needed a dryer climate. At least I think that was the story at the time. She passed years after they moved to Arizona, and Lute remarried since then. YES?
 
I don't remember any hint of him leaving Iowa City because it was not big enough for him. I believe he left for Arizona for the health issues his wife had.
I believe George Ravling left because he could not go out without attracting people to he and his party.
I believe George actually came right out and said there were not enough eligible single black women in the dating scene in Iowa.
 
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