Arizona Desert Swarm · Apr 13, 2018
Lute Olson ‘immortalized forever’ outside McKale Center
Lute Olson. Immortalized forever.
As those four words echoed over the loudspeaker, the red curtain tumbled to the ground, revealing a bronze statue of the longtime Arizona basketball coach, commemorating nearly three decades of excellence.
“It means .... it means,” the 83-year-old Olson, wearing a dark blazer and sunglasses, stuttered as the wind whipped through his iconic white hair, “It means the world to us to be here.”
The unveil was the final act of a day dedicated to the Hall of Fame coach. For what he accomplished on the court, for what he means to the Arizona community, and for the legacy he left behind.