Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Arizona's Olson turns 70 and has energy to spare
By STEVE RIVERA
Tucson Citizen
TUCSON, Ariz. - When it comes to University of Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson, age is but a number.
Come Wednesday, that number will be 70, making him one of the oldest active Division I coaches in the game today, behind Temple's John Chaney and New Mexico State's Lou Henson, each 72.
"I don't feel any differently than I felt when I first took this job," said Olson, born Sept. 22, 1934, in Mayville, N.D.
Just last year a former star player of his, Steve Kerr, joked at a roast for Olson that Olson still looks like he did when he first took the job in 1983, which means he looked as if he were in his late 60s back then.
As Olson, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, enters season No. 22 with the Wildcats and 32nd overall as a college coach, he looks tanned, fit and ready for yet another year.
"As a matter of fact, I think I'm in better shape right now," he said, comparing himself to the early 1980s' version of himself. "At that point I wasn't working out every day like I am now."
His workout routine could put someone half his age to shame.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Olson walks the hills near his foothills home for more than an hour and then later in the day tries to hit the weight room.
"I try to get in three days a week, but it's been difficult," he said.
Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood has noticed Olson's energy.
"He's amazing," Livengood said. "To have the energy to do all the things that he does, I don't think age ever enters his mind. I played golf with him (recently), and he hits the ball a whole lot better than I do."
One of the things that keeps him active are the players and his community duties.
Just two weeks ago, he was doing one of his public relations promotions for counseling for high schoolers.
"The one good thing about this job is that at different times of the year it really occupies your life," he said. "Right now, I'm doing a lot, but we also head out on the road for recruiting."
In three weeks, basketball starts, and he will have to change his schedule.
"It's better because I have to be here every day," he said. "But the variety helps with me being young, too. It's not like when most people have to report to work every morning at 8 and leave at 5 and do the same thing.
"In my case, I get to do a lot of different things. It's just a matter of getting things scheduled. But if I did everything people wanted me to do, I wouldn't have time to coach."
College Coaches 70+
• Lute Olson, Arizona
