Reports that Hall of Fame former Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is ailing set off a flood of well wishes on social media Tuesday evening.

Star columnist Greg Hansen tweeted that Olson β€œis in the fight of his life.” KVOA reported that Olson is receiving hospice care.

Olson, 85, had a stroke in February 2019 and has not been seen at a UA basketball game since then. Olson also did not attend the Lute Olson Fantasy Camp in August 2019 at the Sporting Chance facility, but a group of former UA basketball players working the camp gathered at his home during one of the evenings they were in town.

β€œObviously, I came to see him,” former UA and NBA guard Salim Stoudamire said at the camp. β€œI pray that his future is bright. All I can do is add positive energy.”

The players on hand also included Matt Muehlebach, Bennett Davison, Joe Turner, Kyle Fogg, Craig McMillan, Ben Davis, A.J. Bramlett, Corey Williams, Donnell Harris, Pete Williams, Reggie Geary and Olson’s grandson, Matt Brase. In a group photograph at Olson’s house, they wrapped arms around each other with wide grins.

A North Dakota native who arrived in Tucson from the University of Iowa in 1983, Olson became the most successful basketball coach in UA history over his 24 seasons with the Wildcats. Named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, Olson led the Wildcats to the 1997 NCAA title, still the crowning moment to date in UA athletics history, along with three other Final Fours and 22 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Overall at Arizona, Olson went 589-187 and won 11 Pac-10 championships. Olson also produced 35 players taken in the NBA Draft, including 14 lottery picks. He had been a regular fixture in the stands at McKale Center from his retirement in 2008 until his 2019 stroke.

Tubelis twins’ arrival puts Wildcats at full strength

When Lithuanian twins Azuolas and Tautvilas Tubelis flashed thumbs-ups under a β€œWelcome to Tucson International Airport” sign on Saturday night, the rest of the Wildcats might as well have been cheering with them.

With no games anywhere in sight, it’s as close to a victory as they’ll have for a while.

All the Wildcats active players managed to make it to Tucson before the start of the fall semester Monday, which was no easy feat considering their new roster consists of players from seven different countries and four continents (if you count Tibet Gorener’s home country of Turkey as part of Asia) β€” and considering that there happens to be a global pandemic going on at the moment.

β€œLook who just happened to make it to Tucson this evening,” tweeted UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, while posting the photo Saturday. β€œReady to start school on Monday.”

The Tubelis twins and walk-on forward Matt Weyand were the last of the Wildcats’ active players to arrive, doing so over the weekend. Brandon Williams is remaining in Southern California and not expected to play.

While Arizona’s final arrivals had to take coronavirus tests and are now spending a week in isolation, most of the players have begun limited workouts.

The Wildcats began working out on the grass outside the Richard Jefferson Gym, and some have since moved on to weightlifting and conditioning. Small groups are also working out on the court, with only one player at a basket at any time.

Balls are wiped down between drills, of course.

β€œEach week we progress a little more,” said UA basketball operations director Ryan Reynolds.

But it’s still far from a normal early semester start, with regular small-group drills yet to begin and the Wildcats’ usual preseason mile run conditioning test not scheduled.

After all, it’s not like there’s any hurry.

Earlier this month, the Pac-12 delayed all sports competition until January, giving the Wildcats at least an extra two months of preseason prep time, even as the NCAA is reportedly considering several start dates that begin no later than Dec. 4.

CBS Sports reported that NCAA VP of basketball Dan Gavitt has put under consideration keeping the start of the college basketball season at Nov. 10, starting around Thanksgiving (Nov. 20 or 25) or starting on Dec. 4.

Gavitt has said he will announce in mid-September if the season will start on time or be delayed.

The start date will matter soon because, teams have 42 days to conduct full practices beforehand – meaning a Nov. 10 start would allow for practices as early as Sept. 29.

The Pac-12 had no comment Tuesday on the reported start dates under consideration, and Reynolds said UA is moving forward with an expectation of a season starting in January.

While Colorado coach Tad Boyle said he would hope the Pac-12 would consider allowing its teams to play before January if games can be arranged safely, Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle indicated significant medical advancements would be needed to do so.

β€œI know they’re holding firm with that (January) date for the health and safety of the student-athletes and the coaches, but who knows?” Tinkle said. β€œIf there’s some big improvements with testing, if a vaccine comes about, who knows? I think anything’s up on the table. But I know right now the big concern is making sure the environments are as safe as possible for our guys and we’re hoping by January 1st that’s the case.”

Wildcats slipping in mock drafts

In many of the latest NBA mock drafts compiled after the league held its draft lottery last week, former Wildcats Nico Mannion, Josh Green and Zeke Nnaji were all hovering late in the first round or early in the second. At various times, all of them have been projected higher in the first round.

ESPN and CBS Sports both projected Mannion going at 21, first among the three ex-Wildcats, while ESPN had Green going 23 and CBS had him at 27.

Green was the first ex-UA player projected to be taken by NBADraft.net (18) and Sports illustrated (22). Mannion was listed at 24 on the NBADraft.net board and 27 in SI’s.

Nnaji was listed in the second round by ESPN (33), Sports Illustrated (34) and NBADraft.net (36) while CBS put him at 30, the final spot of the first round.

The Star's Justin Spears, Bruce Pascoe and Alec White break down the current NBA Wildcats remaining in the bubble for playoffs. Plus, what does the Pac-12 college basketball season moving to January mean for Arizona and its rotation of players? The guys also discuss Los Angeles-area combo guard K.J. Simpson committing to the UA, becoming the Wildcats' first commit of the 2021 class. To end the podcast, Star investigative reporter Caitlin Schmidt shares details from her latest story on the UA track and field program, which highlights several sexual assault incidents and a "rotten culture" within the UA track and field program.

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