UPDATE: Confirmed by Arizona. According to Gary Parrish, Olson stayed too long at the dance and there were signs as early as the end of the 2007 NCAA Tournament that Olson was not up to the job and possibly dealing with some deterioration of his mental faculties. Now, he walks away with an abrupt bizarreness which robs him of the honor he is due for winning 770 games. Like him or not(and I have never been a fan) winning 770 games and a national title in major college basketball is nothing to sneeze at.
Also, in this lies the cautionary tale about the right time to walk away. Dean chose to leave when he was still going to Final Fours and recruiting top players, I expect Roy to do the same. For Olson, his legacy is damaged to some extent by staying too long and exiting this way which is unfortunate for someone whose accomplishments demanded a better ending to the story.
Original post after the jump.
So says Dick Vitale, Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman to name a few. Health is being given as the reason for his departure. This event and the massive defections of young players and recruits officially qualifies Arizona’s basketball program as a huge mess. Especially with the whole fiasco last spring surrounding Olson’s return following his leave of absence which was followed by Olson giving interim and anointed successor Kevin O’Neil the boot.
Meanwhile Herb Sendek is sitting back wondering where he has seen this movie at before…
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Sidney Lowe’s agent talking to Arizona?
Good riddance.
Tell us how you really feel!
Heels were 0-2 versus Olsen in the NCAA Tournament and Roy had the infamous loss to Arizona in 1997 when he had a 37 win team at Kansas.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself!
Lute always ranked #2 on my list of least liked coaches behind Boeheim…
Bobby Knight tops that list for me, followed by Olsen, Boeheim, Digger Phelps and Rick Barnes. K is on a list by himself.
I’m never sure what to think of Knight. I have an extreme distaste for his antics and want to despise him, but at the same time, he ran a clean program and graduated his players… and Dean Smith liked him, so how bad could he really be?
“but at the same time, he ran a clean program and graduated his players”
So does Coach K…
True… but to me there seems to be a big difference their personalities. Knight has a bad temper problem, but with K, there seems to be something more sinister and subversive. It could also be that I am only capable of viewing K with my Carolina Blue glasses on, and if he were the coach at a non-rival school, I might have no issue with him at all.
You are right. Knight just strikes you as old school and temper prone. K seems diabolical in a way, has the whole business/leadership crap going on so a lot of the good stuff Dick Vital et.al fall in love with is just a facade for the machinations underneath.
From what I can tell about the Coaching fraternity is the Apple does not fall far from the tree. Knight and Krachfricfcski are one in the same Mean, arrogant B-holes while Dean and Roy are almost one in the same as well, the proverbial light of our life’s.
Also has Ginyard already had his surgery? If so the eight week rehab started when?
I don’t have a problem with Knight. He is what he is and kids still chose to attend college there as opposed to going elsewhere. My HS gym teacher was like that, and he got the best production out of me. It just matters whether you are disciplined or not enough to handle it. Some of these kids are pansies too, and need kicks in the butt. I have had my moments where that was the case, and the same goes for some other kids I went to school with. I am grateful that we have a coach who knows how to get the best out of kids, has a demeanor at times like Knight (but only when necessary), yet is humble most of the time & has a good sense of humor to boot. What can I say. UNC is a big tent college & we have enough of everything to satisfy most kids looking to bring their sports abilities to college.
I see Knight as a great coach and teacher who has a fatal flaw. He is certainly his own worst enemy, and an idiot sometimes. However, I think that makes him human. Coach K is not human, but evil incarnate.
I like to apply the fishing and beer standard here, where I could see myself fishing and having a beer with Bobby Knight (at least on one of his good days). I could see myself pouring holy water water on Coach K and watching him melt, but that’s about it.
Ginyard already had surgery. He was at media day this past Fridayin uniform but using crutches and the foot was heavily wrapped. My estimate from the day of surgery put eight weeks at around December 3rd.
Absolutely agree with JB and especially HeelYeah.
Thanks Wilf. I can relate to HeelYeah in the fact that holy water surely would make K melt.