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?
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And they had just finished building CHA? Been awhile.He left.
Lute is gone? Guess I must have been under a rock.He left.
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.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.
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?
I read that book and remember recruiting as a reason. Am I crazy? Probably.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 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.Hated the four corner stall !
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...I read that book and remember recruiting as a reason. Am I crazy? Probably.
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?
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.
10 NCAA tourneys in 11 years. 4 sweet sixteens' or better. Fun times. Some tough losses during Lutes NCAA tournaments. Always competitive.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 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
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.
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 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.
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?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.
I believe George actually came right out and said there were not enough eligible single black women in the dating scene in Iowa.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.
Ah yes, the phantom foul on Kevin Boyle I believe, who was about 10 feet away from the play. Never forget Lute chasing him off the court. Made Fran look mild........Jim Bain was an awful, awful, awful, awful official. Just awful.