By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Weather completes true basketball experience in Minneapolis
It may seem strange, but the birthplace of Arizona basketball was in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Though UA head coach Lute Olson grew up in the neighboring North Dakota, his collegiate basketball career and initial coaching positions were all in Minnesota.
So when the Arizona basketball team boards a flight to Minneapolis tomorrow, it will be a homecoming of sorts for Olson, who lived in Minnesota for nine years, and several of his players.
The Wildcats' Midwest ties extend to Olson's coaching days at Iowa and the high school careers of four UA players.
With UA senior forward Justin Wessel coming from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, junior forward Michael Wright straight out of Chicago, senior center Loren Woods from St. Louis and sophomore guard Jason Gardner arriving from Indianapolis, the Wildcats are shedding the image of being a typical West Coast team.
"This team has more Midwest blood than people realize," Wright said. "With Coach O, me and some others being from the Midwest, we're going to be playing in front of a bunch of our friends and family this weekend."
Olson, a 1956 Augsburg College graduate, truly is coming home for the Final Four. The Augsburg campus is less than a mile from the Metrodome where the Wildcats will be playing Saturday.
While at Augsburg, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball as well as earned a double major in history and physical education. After graduation, Olson took coaching positions in Cannon Falls, Minn., Mahnomen, Minn. and Two Harbors, Minn.
"We're thrilled to have the opportunity to go to Minneapolis now," he said. "My sister and brother-in-law live in Minnesota, so it is a place that I am familiar with and have fond memories of."
Later in his coaching career, Olson moved back to coach at Iowa from 1975 to 1983 where he became the winningest coach in school history (168-90). He took the Hawkeyes to the NCAA five times straight including a Final Four trip in 1980.
"When I was at Iowa, we played (in Minneapolis against the University of Minnesota) nine times," Olson said. "That was always a big thrill for me."
For a team made up of nine Arizona and California residents, the few Midwesterners on the UA roster say their warm-weather pals are in for a shock.
As the Wildcats were cutting down the nets in San Antonio on the weekend, temperatures outside were a mild 63 degrees. UA fans in Tucson spent their Sunday afternoon lounging by pools and at golf courses in 82-degree weather.
At the same time, breezes blowing down from Canada had the wind chill in Minneapolis hovering around zero.
"Now that's more like it," Wright said after the game. "Being in Tucson and in San Antonio, I don't get to wear all my jackets and parkas. Temperatures in the teens and 20s - now that's my weather."
The Chicago native favors the sub-freezing temperatures of the Midwest to Tucson days in mid-March that threaten the 100-degree barrier.
"Finally I will be able to show my teammates what a real spring is supposed to feel like," Wright said. "All these guys from Arizona and California walking around in shorts and T-shirts don't understand cold weather. They'll get a taste of it now."
Though Olson has fond memories of the North Star state, his 17 years in Tucson have turned him into a bit of a snowbird.
"Minneapolis really is a nice city, they just need to warm it up between now and Saturday," he said. "It's a beautiful city when the weather is right."
Sorry, Coach. The weather is supposed be in the high 20s with rain and snow flurries when the Wildcats arrive in the Twin Cities tomorrow night.
But why go to Minnesota if you are not going to get the true Midwest experience?
And as far as actual basketball goes, the Wildcats will certainly be getting the true experience.
UA couldn't be playing a more fitting team. The Michigan State Spartans operate within the brutish style that typifies Big Ten Conference basketball.
In fact, MSU leads the NCAA in team rebounds.
Though Arizona runs an up-tempo offense, Wessel and Wright - both stereotypical Midwest basketball players - will likely be a part of the low-post fray Saturday.
"Michigan State is a bunch of bangers like Illinois was last week," Wessel said. "It is nice to get in there and move some bodies around. With these Big Ten teams, you always know there will be elbows being thrown and legs and arms flying all over the place. It should be fun."
