Lute!: The Seasons of My Life - Tapa dura

The head coach for the Arizona Wildcats describes his North Dakota youth, his long and successful basketball career, his journey to the heights of college basketball, the great players with whom he has worked, and his forty-seven-year love affair with his wife, Bobbi, until her tragic death from cancer. 150,000 first printing.

LUTE OLSON, a native of Mayville, North Dakota, has been a college head coach the last thirty years. He has won more than eight hundred games while coaching at Long Beach City College, Long Beach State, the University of Iowa, and the University of Arizona. In 1997, Olson led the Arizona Wildcats to the NCAA championship and in 1988, 1994, 1997, and 2001 to the Final Four. His twenty-six NCAA Tournament appearances are the second most among active coaches, and his forty-five NCAA wins are also the second most among active coaches and tied for fourth all-time. As head coach at Iowa, Olson led the Hawkeyes to the 1979 Big Ten championship and five consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. He was named national Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1990. In addition, Olson was the gold medal--winning coach of the 1986 World Championship teams, the latter of which was the United States’ last major international win with collegiate players making up the roster. In 2002 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
DAVID FISHER has collaborated on more than a dozen New York Times bestsellers. Among his bestselling sports books are It’s Only a Game and Keep It Simple with Hall of Fame quarterback and broadcaster Terry Bradshaw.