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A rare lack of class

Since Lute Olson arrived in Tucson in 1983, he has done nearly everything right.

Coach O has taken a stagnant basketball program and resurrected it into the winningest program in the country during the last 11 years

Just as importantly, Olson and his coaching staff have brought in many quality players and individuals to the program, including Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Reggie Geary and Michael Dickerson.

The result has been amazing - a class program rivaled by few in the nation.

But on Saturday, following his team's 86-81 loss to Oregon, Olson did something that could cost him a lot of the respect he has worked hard to accumulate.

Olson blasted a reporter from Oregon's student newspaper, The Daily Emerald, for asking him a question regarding an incident in which UA forward Richard Jefferson was given a technical foul in the first half of the game.

Jefferson pushed an Oregon fan after the fan grabbed his jersey, preventing him from rejoining the action on the court.

Olson was upset that a technical foul was assessed to Jefferson but not the Oregon crowd.

The fifth place finish is the second consecutive fifth place finish for the Icecats, as the team closes out the season at 23-3-2.

The student reporter asked Olson if he condoned Jefferson's hard push, and Olson responded in manner that was both irresponsible and unprofessional.

Olson blasted the reporter's questioning, and after looking at his media credentials and finding out he was a student working for the Emerald, said, "Good. Glad you're not really working."

Granted, Olson was upset that his team had just been swept in Oregon. He was probably even more disturbed that the Wildcats missed a golden opportunity to pull even with Stanford before Thursday's showdown at McKale Center that, before Saturday, could have determined the No. 1 seed in the West Regional.

But that does not excuse him for acting like he did.

One job of a head coach is to accept responsibility for his or her team's loss. Olson may have done this through different answers to reporters, but he went overboard by making a mockery out of the student's job.

Olson, who unlike head football coach Dick Tomey seems to have been deemed untouchable by the Tucson media, embarrassed the entire university by taking his frustrations out on the student.

Olson has long been handled with kid gloves by members of the media, so perhaps he is a little rusty dealing at with a critical question

But why attack a reporter for being a student? Does that make the individual more or less capable of doing his or her job?

No, it only means they are learning in a field in which they might want to consider working in as a professional someday. They make mistakes.

Huh, kind of like a collegiate basketball coach.