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KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat
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Arizona head coach Lute Olson protests a call from the sideline earlier this season. Olson was named a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award yesterday.
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By Jeff Lund
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday Feb. 20, 2002
Coach one of 20 candidates for Naismith Award
Members of the UA men's basketball team are not the only ones who are being recognized for their surprising play thus far this season.
Yesterday, head coach Lute Olson was named as one of the 20 finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
Olson is in his 19th season at Arizona and his 29th overall as a college head coach, with a career record of 656-233 (.738) and 464-141 (.767) at Arizona.
He has the second-best conference winning percentage in Pac-10 history, trailing only UCLA coaching legend John Wooden.
Olson has been named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year six times. The most recent was in 1998.
Over the past 14 seasons, Olson has directed the UA program to the nation's best winning percentage in that span (377-87/ .813).
The Naismith Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year Award will be presented on April 5 as part of the Naismith Awards program.
