Arizona legend Lute Olson named to 2019 college hoops Hall of Fame
Apr 2, 2019, 2:17 PM
(Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for CFN)
(Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for CFN)
Former Arizona Wildcats coach Lute Olson and the late Rick Majerus headline the 2019 class of six former players and three influential coaches selected Tuesday for the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Joining them during the induction ceremony this November are former Indiana star Calbert Cheaney, Duke’s Shane Battier, Purdue’s Terry Dischinger, Ernie DiGregorio of Providence, UNLV’s Larry Johnson, Stanford standout Todd Lichti and longtime Valparaiso coach Homer Drew.
Olson won 780 games during a decorated career at Long Beach State, Iowa and Arizona, good for 12th-most among NCAA Division I men’s basketball coaches all-time. He took the Hawkeyes to the Final Four and the Wildcats to four Final Fours and the 1997 title.
Over 24 years at Arizona, Olson went 589-187 and won 11 Pac-10 Championships. Arizona won 20 or more games in 20 consecutive seasons under his leadership.
Twenty of his Wildcats earned All-America honors.
Olson, who retired after the 2008-09 season with seven Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards, is already enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was included in the inaugural 2006 college hoops hall of fame class because of his Naismith honor but was not formally inducted.
The 2019 class will be enshrined on Nov. 24.
Olson joins former Arizona player Sean Elliott in the College Basketball Hall of Fame after Elliott was inducted last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
