Men's basketball head coach Lute Olson expressed support for athletic director Jim Livengood last night, calling him one of the biggest reasons Arizona has had athletic success in recent years.

Olson's endorsement came in response to a post-game question from KVOA sports reporter Pete Delgado about the coach's future at the UA. Delgado had heard reports that Olson would not be around next season if Livengood left Arizona.

"I'm not ready to work for another AD," Olson said. "He is a great person and he is a hard worker. If you look at the success and the improvement of facilities that have occurred in his time here · we should be down on our knees thanking him, instead of listening to people that know nothing about what's going on."

Livengood has come under fire recently in some local media for the way he dealt with the situation involving head football coach John Mackovic, who Livengood hired less than two years ago in hopes of turning around a football program that had failed to reach a bowl game in the previous two seasons.

"There have been some reports on the radar screen that irritate the heck out of me, when I see somebody criticize Jim Livengood and when I see what he has done for this program," Olson said. "When you talk to the head coaches of this program, they will tell you that Jim Livengood is working his tail off and doing everything he can to help."

Livengood, the former Washington State athletic director, is the driving force behind the $15 million Eddie Lynch Pavilion, which opened in September. During his tenure as AD, Arizona has ranked in the top 10 for nine consecutive years in the Sears Cup, which ranks the top athletic programs in the country.

In recent years, he has been a finalist for other athletic director jobs around the country. This past summer, he was the leading candidate to take over the University of Minnesota athletic program, before he withdrew his name from consideration.