What happened with Lute Olsen?

[Lord Ash]

I find the Lute situation VERY strange. Bilas made a good point that A) his statement was not prepared by the school, as it would normally be, and B) no administrators, coaches, or players have been told anything.

Is there possibly something really wrong with Lute? Sickness or something? I have never heard of such a strange case where there is SO little information out there.

[jimsumner]

Arizona is adamant that this is NOT a medical issue. Other than that, I will not speculate in public.

[weezie]

At the game I was at a few weeks ago, the fans I sat near were remarkably sanguine about the entire affair. Must be the nice weather. Some rumblings about issues surrounding the behavior of his second wife's teen-aged children but no one had anything concrete.
And several people laughed at me when I instinctively yelled to protest a bad call by the ref. They just don't get too steamed up out there.

[Zeb]

I have a friend who is an Arizona grad, Phoenix resident, and avid Wildcats fan but otherwise not privvy to any inside information. He told me that it is widely known why Lute took a leave. After much internal debate, I think that sharing what he says is basically just passing along gossip, so I'll refrain. I only post all that to say that in AZ circles, this is apparently not a well kept secret.

I met Lute once and thought he was a heck of a nice guy--much more energetic and personable than I imagined watching him on TV. Whatever the personal matter is that is keeping him from his coaching, I hope he comes through this well.

[Cameron]

Some rumblings about issues surrounding the behavior of his second wife's teen-aged children but no one had anything concrete.

So a possible Andy Reid like situation, perhaps...

I agree that this whole Lute Olsen disappearance is rather strange. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. I've always liked the guy, and was cheering like hell for his 'Cats to beat Illinois in '05. I had $160 riding on that one. The money was mine, too. Salim Stoudamire hits a 25-footer, 'Zona up 15, Derran Williams, sea of orange, I'm out $160. :( I walked around the house for over an hour, in despair, as my buddy left about 22 voice mails proclaiming how much of a NCAA Tournament God he was. Damn Bruce Weber. I really hate that guy, even moreso now that I saw his nonsense spatter about his fallen puppy on national television.

[socaldukie]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3129587

[77devil]

I have a friend who is an Arizona grad, Phoenix resident, and avid Wildcats fan but otherwise not privvy to any inside information. He told me that it is widely known why Lute took a leave. After much internal debate, I think that sharing what he says is basically just passing along gossip, so I'll refrain. I only post all that to say that in AZ circles, this is apparently not a well kept secret.

If you feel you cannot share the information, there is no reason to post that the reason is widely known but you have decided it is inappropriate to share.

[dkbaseball]

According to a friend in Tucson, it's generally thought that Lute has been in Italy where he's been helping a son deal with some sort of problem. He's back in Tucson now.