Ken Davis

Lute Olson may have returned from his leave of absence in April, but he never has returned to his old self. The title in front of his name indicated he was still the head coach at Arizona. But for more than a year Olson hasn’t resembled the coach — or the person — everyone had come to know during his 24 seasons of directing the Wildcat basketball program.

The big, booming voice in practice, the one that identified Olson as Arizona’s authority figure, has been missing. Many of the little tendencies that identified Arizona as a Lute Olson operation seemed to fade away. Since the official start of practice last Friday, observers noticed Olson was on the court but it was associate head Mike Dunlap who was navigating the Wildcats through those workouts.

At some point Wednesday, Olson finally admitted to himself what others must have been thinking for months. The 74-year-old Hall of Famer is no longer capable of carrying out his duties as Arizona’s coach. The only true surprise was the timing.

“This was not a decision that was made lightly,” Olson said in a statement released by the school. “I’ve had a wonderful run at The University of Arizona. I leave with a great sense of pride in what we have accomplished here.”

[Editor's note: A few days later, Olson's doctor revaled the coach had suffered a stroke last season and advised Olson to retire.]

The list of accomplishments is tremendous. Olson leaves with 780 wins, five Final Four appearances and the 1997 national championship with Arizona. Unfortunately, like so many other aging coaches who have bungled their last lines and stumbled off stage instead of gracefully exiting, Olson has damaged his legacy with the events of the last years. And that’s a sad, sad situation.

Dick Vitale of ESPN broke the news of Olson’s retirement Thursday, hinting the decision was based on poor health. A few hours later, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood confirmed that Olson had retired and said a national search for his successor would begin soon.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Arizona, the players and coaches in the program right now, or for three recruits who made commitments to Olson and were less than three weeks away from signing their letters of intent.

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In his statement, Olson’s only explanation was that he wanted to devote more time to family and friends. It seems that decision could have been made weeks — or months — ago. Olson missed all of last season after announcing the personal leave of absence. At that time he cited “a medical condition that was not life-threatening.” He endured a very public divorce and, according to The Tucson Citizen, became engaged to a 47-year-old Tucson woman this fall.

You would think those events would have given Olson enough time to consider his personal obligations and his commitment to family and friends. Instead, Olson waited until after Arizona’s media day on Tuesday, with the regular season just two weeks away, to create this havoc for the second consecutive season.

“I feel much more energized at this point,” Olson had told reporters Tuesday.

Olson may have been trying to convince himself that was the truth, but a source close to Arizona basketball, someone who has known Olson for years, said Thursday night this absolutely was a health related decision. Solomon Hill, a 6-6 forward from Los Angeles who had committed to Olson, told USA Today that Arizona assistant coach Reggie Geary called to inform Hill that the change was health-related.

Unless Olson decides to clear the air and tell everyone exactly what is wrong, we probably won’t know the precise nature of that health problem. But obviously it is serious enough to stop Olson in his tracks. There were rumors a few years ago that Olson was suffering from Parkinson’s but that was roundly denied by his doctors.