photo credit: Wikipedia-Gage Skidmore
Former Arizona coach Lute Olson, who turned the Wildcats into a national basketball powerhouse died Thursday at age 85. Olson guided Arizona to 25 straight NCAA Tournament appearances, a run that would’ve been the third-longest in NCAA history, but the 1999 and 2000 appearances were later vacated by the NCAA for impermissible benefits to players and recruiting violations. The Wildcats won a national championship under Olson in 1997. Olson’s Arizona teams reached the Final Four four times and lost the 2001 national title game to Duke.