'What more can 2020 do to me?' Wildcats sueprfan mourns loss of Lute Olson, end of an era

Freddy Foster walked to the Lute Olson statue outside the north entrance of McKale Center Friday morning. She wore checkerboard Arizona Wildcats pants, UA-themed tennis shoes and a navy blue T-shirt with “Thanks” inscribed below Olson’s face plastered in the center.

In Foster’s hands was an exact copy of the shirt she was wearing. The Tucsonan dipped and placed it at the statue’s feet.

Holding back tears, Foster thought about the three decades’ worth of memories and moments that gave Tucson something to be proud of.

Olson, who died Thursday night at age 85, didn’t just represent Arizona Wildcats basketball or the UA itself; to many, he was Tucson. Foster and hundreds of others paid their respects Thursday night and all day Friday at the Olson statue, delivering basketballs, bouquets and notes in honor of Arizona’s Hall of Fame coach.

UA freshman point guard Kerr Kriisa — an Estonian named after Wildcats great Steve Kerr — was among the first to pay their respects Thursday night.

Tucson’s loss struck Foster in a deeper way. On Feb. 2, Foster’s husband, Jamie, died.

Jamie was a forward for the Wildcats under then-head coach Bruce Larson in the early 1960s, where he was teammates with stars such as Albert Johnson and Warren Rustand. He was what would be later called a “gumby” — a player known for being supportive on the sideline.

Freddy and Jamie met at a downtown Tucson Marriott in 1978, and were married the following year. The T-shirt left at Olson’s feet on Friday belonged to Jamie. Freddy Foster attached pins from the Wildcats’ 1994, 1997 and 2001 Final Fours onto it, along with a note: “Love Jamie and Freddy Foster. Always in our hearts, Lute and Bobbi!”

“What more can 2020 do to me?,” she wondered. “Not just me, but all of Tucson, because we all loved Coach.”

The Fosters’ marriage revolved around the Wildcats and college basketball. Between 1989 and 2018, Freddy and Jamie attended every Final Four, including the UA’s heartbreakers in ’94 and ’01. They were in the stands when the Wildcats won the national championship in ’97.

Foster said Thursday that Olson was “very influential to us and what we did with our lives.”

“With the Cats going (to the Final Four) in 1988, and the few years leading up to that with (Steve) Kerr and (Sean) Elliott, we got so excited that from ’88, we never missed (a Final Four).”

Foster’s favorite Olson memory came at the 1997 Final Four, when more than 500 fans packed the team hotel’s lobby prior to the Wildcats’ game against Kentucky.

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“We’re all held back by security and they were coming down the elevator,” Freddy said. “I was standing next to the security guard and I heard his radio say, ‘They’re on their way.’ My heart was pounding. I said, ‘Jimmy, they’re coming!’”

Olson’s strutted through the lobby on his way to the team bus, flanked by Bobbi Olson and a visiting Elliott.

“It wasn’t just Lute and Bobbi, it was also Sean coming through the crowd high-fiving everyone,” Foster said. “That moment sent chills down my spine. It was so amazing and it wouldn’t have mattered if we won or not, it really didn’t matter. It was the most exciting time I’ve ever had. … At that moment, I was bawling when I saw this man getting ready to coach in this huge game.”

The Fosters were easy to pick out of a crowd. For 25 years, they wore matching clothes, almost always UA or Final Four apparel.

“Everyone always recognizes us, because he’s 6-7 and I’m 5-2, but we have the same exact clothes on,” Foster said.

The Fosters’ Final Four streak ended two years ago, but their dedication to cheering for the Wildcats never paused.

The night Jamie died, he watched Arizona pick up a road win over Washington State.

“He planned the whole thing,” she joked. “The U of A has come full circle for us.”

Olson “really drove the city,” Foster said.

“We would be more known for Davis-Monthan and the University Medical Center as opposed to sports,” she said. “Tucson has changed so much and I think he had a huge hand in that. If we didn’t have a winning program, Tucson wouldn’t be in the position that it’s in.”

Her final message to Olson was emblazoned on her shirt: Thanks.

“Without him, I wouldn’t have had those 30 years at the Final Four where we met friends from almost every state,” she said. “My husband and I’s life would’ve been totally different. Yes, we would’ve had a wonderful life without U of A basketball, but I don’t think it would’ve had the color that it had without it.”