Dick Vitale broke the news on ESPN that he had reliable sources saying Lute Olson was stepping down as coach of Arizona due to health problems. Now Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com is saying the same thing.Arizona, however, is planning to say nothing for the time being.
Arizona spokesperson Tom Duddleston said Thursday morning that Olson hasn't informed the administration that he is resigning. Duddleston said he went to his superiors and was told, "no way," in response to the report.Which means little at this point, except that they weren't prepared for this and the subsequent leaking of the information. From the PR side of this, Arizona definitely didn't see it coming. Arizona AD Jim Livengood is unavailable to comment, because he is in meetings, according to the Wildcat Athletic Department.
"We're not making any announcement to that effect," Duddleston said. "At this moment there is nothing going on."
Last week, Olson was talking about how happy he was to be back. At the beginning of the week, ESPN and their basketball reporter Andy Katz was in Tuscon and watching the practice for a feature on Olson.
