HN TV: Lute Olson, Ronnie Lester Remember Old Times
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
Always wonder what would have been if Lute had stayed around? Where would our program be?
Question, I'm young enough I don't know all the reasonings he left etc. I think I was like 5 at the time. How come there doesn't seem to be resentment or hard feelings from Iowa and Iowa fans?
Question, I'm young enough I don't know all the reasonings he left etc. I think I was like 5 at the time. How come there doesn't seem to be resentment or hard feelings from Iowa and Iowa fans?
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
Insert Ames Hooray video.
HawkPrdatr40
Well-Known Member
I do have some of that resentment. I was 14 when he left and it still stings because in my view he would have taken Iowa to the next level.. My favorite sport as a kid was Basketball and I would sit in front of TV and or listen on the radio and track player points.. I was devastated when he left Iowa and despise anything Arizona!! No doubt in my mind that Lute would have won a NCAA Title at Iowa..
I don't remember Lute, but my Dad used to talk about it a lot and he was pissed that he left. His belief is that Iowa basketball never recovered from Lute leaving. He never seemed bitter toward Lute but at the same time I think that bitterness has gone toward the coaches who have followed. 3 of them aren't very popular regardless among our fan base but he didn't even like Davis.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Lute kept a recruiting pipeline going at Iowa and was occasionally reeling in Iowa high school players well into the nineties. I think Justin Wessels from Cedar Rapids was the last one. I think the pipeline drying up when it did coincided with kids being born too late to have any memories of Lute's Iowa years. It's not difficult to draw a correlation there.
To answer the question I think the resentment would have been a lot deeper had the 1987-89 era not happened. I think many of us hung onto the hope that the Doctor would have a better chance of winning a Natty than Lute. That is until Arizona whipped us twice in 1987-88.
Lute got a positive reception when he brought his team back to Carver in December 1987. That was a testement to the power of that 1980 season and how special it was and still is today.
Alford and Bowlsby should have scheduled one more game with Arizona, or a home and home. One more chance for Lute to come back to Iowa City before he retired. Unfortunately it never happened.
To answer the question I think the resentment would have been a lot deeper had the 1987-89 era not happened. I think many of us hung onto the hope that the Doctor would have a better chance of winning a Natty than Lute. That is until Arizona whipped us twice in 1987-88.
Lute got a positive reception when he brought his team back to Carver in December 1987. That was a testement to the power of that 1980 season and how special it was and still is today.
Alford and Bowlsby should have scheduled one more game with Arizona, or a home and home. One more chance for Lute to come back to Iowa City before he retired. Unfortunately it never happened.
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hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
The pervading feeling, after 1981/1982/1983, was that Lute "will only get us so far". His last 3 seasons were pretty disappointing, save for a decent NCAA run in 1983, making the Sweet 16 before going down to Villanova by a point. Lute's last several pressers were painful to watch. He was actually complaining--almost whining--in a couple. It was definitely a mixed bag of feelings around town when he announced he was leaving.
