Lute Olsen is back in charge at Arizona and has cleaned house to prove it. Besides losing Buddinger and Bayless to the pros he has also dismissed his entire staff.
Kevin O Neill, who was supposed to get the job when and if Olsen ever retires, was pushed aside and reassigned within the department. That won’t last. O’Neill didn’t come to Arizona to be an administrator. Miles Simon, who helped Olsen get a championship ring was pushed out the door as well. Olsen showed a lot of gratitude there.
Now word has it that Josh Pastner and all of his father’s connections – his father runs a Houston AAU team and a couple big time tounaments each year – are leaving for Memphis. This might not be a big loss for Arizona since Pastner really didn’t deliver as many players as he was supposed to. But at Memphis, I guarantee Coach Cal will benefit from the paternal ties.
It looks like Mike Dunlap will fill his shoes. The former NBA coach realizes that won’t get a head coaching job in the NBA and needs to get back to the college level to strengthen his chances of getting a head coaching job in college. The big question is – how long will it take before Olsen gets tired of Dunlap and his ideas? It didn’t take him long to tire of O’Neill.
Mark my words – Arizona will not have the success it had in the past until Olsen calls it quits. Check out Bowden’s and Paterno’s recent record in football. It’s a young man’s game.
