Former Long Beach State men’s basketball coach and hall of fame inductee Lute Olson passed away Thursday night at the age of 85, ESPN reported.
Olson coached for Long Beach City College from 1969 to 1973 and for the Beach from 1973 to 1974.
He then left Long Beach for Iowa, coaching at the University of Iowa from 1974 to 1983, and went on to the longest leg of his career at the University of Arizona from 1983 to 2007. Olson announced his retirement a year later in 2008.
Olson’s career was filled with success, including a National Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship in 1997 for Arizona and NABC Coach of the Year in 1980.
He was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and later into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.