Illustration by Josh Hagler

At the risk of stepping on the sports columnists' toes, I felt obligated to give proper praise to someone who, despite being a household name among sports fans, doesn't get nearly enough credit around here for what he accomplishes year after year.

There's an old clichˇ, "The more things change, the more things stay the same." It may be a lame saying, but last week, I realized whoever came up with it must have been talking about Lute Olson.

Coach Olson has been UA's men's basketball coach for 19 years. He's the first name that comes to a lot of folks' minds whenever someone mentions the University of Arizona. Olson has been here so long that most UA fans have begun to take him and the success of his program for granted.

Our football team underachieves yet again, and Olson still wins. Our university's landscape under goes facelift after facelift, not to mention a disgraceful Fourth Avenue riot, and Olson still wins. Our budget is cut by $16 million, our professors are leaving for other schools left and right, and Olson still wins.

And most impressive of all: four of his starters from last year leave for the NBA, and oh yeah, Olson still finds a way to win.

As impressive as last year's team was in making it all the way to the NCAA championship game before being upended by Duke - and the refs, I might add - I think that this year's team was more of a testament to what Coach Olson is capable of.

Not much was expected of Arizona this year. In the preseason poll, the "experts" picked it to finish fourth in the Pacific 10 Conference. They weren't even ranked in the Top 25 at the beginning of the season, something Coach Olson isn't accustomed to. At best, they would make the NCAA tournament as an eight or nine seed. Some even expected them to have to spend a year in the dreaded National Invitational Tournament - the tournament to decide the 65th best team in the nation.

And prior to the 2001-02 season, most of us would have agreed: Lute was stuck with a bunch of leftovers and inexperienced newcomers - minus Luke Walton and Jason Gardner - who wouldn't be able to establish themselves as forces to be reckoned with for a good year, maybe two. With any other coach at the helm, that may have proven to be the case.

But no other college basketball coach in the country can get as much productivity out of his freshmen than Coach Olson. Six months ago, no one had the faintest idea who Salim Stoudamire and Channing Frye were. Today, I think most of us would be surprised if they don't end up in the NBA.

Here's what Coach Olson's "leftovers" accomplished in the 2001-02 season: a regular season 22-9 overall and 12-6 conference record, a leap from unranked at the start of the season to number three within the first month, a final ranking of eighth in the AP poll, a Pac-10 tournament championship, a three seed in the NCAA tournament and a Sweet 16 appearance. All this while having to endure the toughest schedule in the nation.

But anyone who has followed Coach Olson through his 28-year coaching career shouldn't be surprised at all with the consistent overachievement of his program. What has Coach Olson done for the Wildcats in his 19-year tenure?

-He turned a sub-.500 basketball team around in a year and had them competing in the NCAA tournament in his second season.

-He's won 77 percent of his games and has never done worse than 12-6 in the Pac-10 since his first season.

-He's led them to four Final Four appearances, two national championship games and the 1997 NCAA Championship - as a four seed.

And yet, with all the success stories behind him, this year was one of Arizona's most impressive seasons. I'd say that only the 1997 championship team ranks above what Coach Olson achieved this year.

Next year will be different. Much will be expected from Olson and the Wildcats. The night of Oklahoma's Sweet 16 victory over Arizona last week, college basketball guru Dick Vitale announced he would be making Arizona his preseason number one next year.

Pressure? Nah. If anyone can handle it, Lute Olson can.

Thanks, coach. I can't thank you enough for what you do for the university.