Submitted by admin on Sun, 2006-11-12 08:00. ::
The university's water supply must be tapped into the fountain of youth. Olson, in his 24th season, has never worn glasses, never taken a pill for high blood pressure. He walks in the mountains around his home for 70 minutes every morning and hits the weight room three times a week. He eats fruits and vegetables and catches plenty of planes but very few colds.
"This is the honest truth: He is more fired up, more intense, more ready, more motivated to win another national championship than ever," Arizona assistant coach Josh Pastner said. "In the fall, we went to see some (high school) freshman basketball players. We told him, 'You don't have to do this.' Even young coaches will send their assistants. No way. He wanted to go."
Unlike Paterno, 79, whose Penn State football team posted four losing seasons in a recent five-year span, Olson's teams have remained a consistent Top 25 presence. Unlike Bobby Bowden, 77, whose Florida State football team has limped to an underachieving 5-5 record in 2006, Olson and his players are entering the season with high expectations.
"That's the amazing thing," said Frank Burlison of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, a highly regarded journalist on the college basketball recruiting scene. "I'll see him at games at 8 in the morning and he's still there at 11 at night. His approach is different from other coaches of his stature. He watches games instead of just showing up."
Still, because the septuagenarian is the oldest active coach in college basketball, speculation about his future is prevalent. Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood insists Olson's eventual retirement "is not even an issue right now."
Livengood recently attended a meeting of athletic directors where he shared a table with Tim Curley and Dave Hart, the ADs for Paterno and Bowden, respectively. They spoke of working with coaches who are revered and how in many ways the trio made their jobs easier.
Only recently have the critics of Paterno and Bowden spoken up. On the front page of RetireCoachBowden.com, the words "dazed and confused" are stamped on the coach's photo. After a particularly disheartening Nittany Lions loss to Wisconsin in 2001, an Omaha World-Herald reporter wrote that after the game, Paterno looked "dazed and confused."
When coaches struggle, they suddenly look and act older. It's hard to say which has benefited Olson more: his 19 consecutive 20-win seasons, or his relentless effort to stay in shape.
That hasn't stopped negative recruiting about his age. Olson has battled it for at least a decade - much as Paterno and Bowden have - which has required him to take a proactive recruiting approach.
"The first thing, before I even take any questions from (the recruits), I indicate, 'OK, I just signed a five-year contract so what all the other coaches are saying is really not a true assessment,' " Olson said. "I go through the fact that I have great genes, that I work out all the time, and I have a great passion still for the game and I feel like I can still communicate.
Because Olson's success has been all-encompassing - a national title, four Final Four appearances, a Hall of Fame enshrinement - Arizona will give great thought to his successor. It likely won't be from his staff - top assistant Jim Rosborough will be 66 when Olson's contract expires; some consider Pastner, now 28, too young.
The one-time popular choice, Indiana's Kelvin Sampson, who was a coach under Livengood at Washington State, fell out of favor when the NCAA penalized Sampson for recruiting violations at Oklahoma. A possible successor might be someone like Gonzaga's Mark Few or former Arizona standout Steve Kerr, although some believe his interests lean toward the NBA. He's currently an executive with the Suns.
"We're lucky to have (Olson), and he'll be here as long as he wants to be here," said Robert Shelton, the university's new president. "The only time I'm thinking about Lute leaving is when I'm having nightmares about it."
It's not to say Olson hasn't been tested at times. Because many players leave for the NBA after one or two seasons and the increased meddling of club coaches with high school players, he's had to adjust his recruiting philosophy. But only once has he ever considered leaving the game.
He was dating his second wife, Christine Toretti, when he realized the relationship with this CEO of a gas and oil drilling company was growing serious. He didn't think she could survive in a town that had so embraced Olson and his deceased wife, Bobbi. The McKale Center basketball court is named after them.
"I wasn't ready to retire," he wrote, "but if that's what it took for us to be together, then that's what I would do. I'd made my decision. I wanted to marry her."
The pair did marry, a decision that caught some by surprise because Olson and Bobbi were such prominent figures in Tucson and few could imagine Olson with anyone else. And her death due to complications from ovarian cancer on Jan. 1, 2001, after three trying years seemed to rip Olson's heart out.
These days, he seems to be in a good place. His optimism heading into this season is off the charts, in part because he's pleased with the team's chemistry and in part because highly coveted recruit Chase Budinger, a freshman this season, has the potential to be Olson's best signing ever.
As long as he keeps winning, he'll be free of the ageism that his coaching peers have experienced. Many believe his most recent contract won't be his last.
"Of all these many lifestyle factors we've examined, the strongest evidence suggests physical activity as a protective factor against cognitive decline," he said.
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