In the wake of Arizona legend Lute Olson’s death, the basketball world and the city of Tucson mourned the loss of the coaching icon.
Corey Williams, who played for the Wildcats from 1992-96, produced a video letter to Olson on his social media accounts, thanking his basketball coach and life mentor.
The letter read: “Dear coach, it was just yesterday you offered me a scholarship to come play for you. At the time, I had no idea it was a lifetime offer. We followed your lead, we traveled the world, we learned how to win. There are hundreds of us, my brothers — some here, some gone. You taught us how to play by showing us how to live. Everyday, we speak your words, we teach your lessons, we share your soul. It seems unreal that your time with us is up. I love you, coach. You are our coach forever. Lute forever.”
After his UA career, Williams, from Batavia, Illinois, played 12 years professionally overseas before returning to his second home of Tucson, where he joined the Olson basketball broadcasting tree, first at Fox Sports Arizona, then at the Pac-12 Networks and currently at ESPN.
Since permanently moving to Tucson, Williams has been a public figure in the Old Pueblo as the vice president of Crest Insurance Group and founder of the Tucson Summer Pro League, a local summer pro am. In the TSPL’s infant stage, players like Steve Kerr, Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton, Jason Terry, Mike Bibby, Andre Iguodala, Joseph Blair and Hassan Adams could be spotted playing in games. Players who were currently at the UA would make their way to the TSPL and, of course, Tucson’s basketball god with the silvery-white hair would have a front-row seat.
Whether it was playing basketball, or the professional world off the court, Olson was a constant mentor and friend to anyone who played or coached under him.
Williams joined the Star on “The Wildcast” podcast over the weekend, and here’s what he had to say about his favorite memories of Olson and how much he impacted his life. The full interview can be heard on The Wildcaster App or any podcast streaming platform.
What’s going through your mind after letting the passing of Coach Olson settle in?
A: “I was just talking with Damon Stoudamire and he kind of hit the nail on the head, because I couldn’t figure out what I was feeling. It was a lot of sadness — you’re just sad and lost, but then there was this other feeling within you of appreciation and gratitude and joy. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but Damon said it’s tears of joy.
“You’re so thankful that you had the experience that you had. You’re thankful to be around and be influenced by someone like Coach Olson.
“You’re thankful that at a time in life, when you were a young man and you were in your formative years, you had that type of influence in your life — the most crucial time in young man’s life, and you were blessed to be around someone like him. When you lose someone you’ve always had around your entire adult life, it’s not nearly the same as losing a parent, but it’s in the same ballpark, because he’s been a constant factor for all of us since the 1980’s.
“Your interaction with him was as a recruit, then you became a player, then it was an (alumnus), then it was a friend, then it was a mentor. Your relationship with coach changed over your life. … He’s just been all over your life and he’s had a fingerprint on almost everything you’ve done.”
What was the first memory you have of Olson from when he recruited you?
A: “I remember getting letters from Arizona and Lute Olson, and I went, ‘Wait a minute, that’s the guy that used to coach at Iowa. I was in Illinois and always watched the Big Ten and would see him walking up and down the sidelines at Iowa. I always felt like that guy — he didn’t come off as conceited, but his look was so together with his suits and hair and the way he carried himself. I was like, ‘That dude is on some NBA stuff at the coaching level.’
“You could tell he had swag, and the way he coached his team, that, to me, signaled — when you want to get under somebody and follow them, you look for qualities and traits like that. My first impression of Coach Olson was, ‘This is a together dude.’
“He didn’t come off as a used car salesman or a slickster, he came off as, ‘I am headed here and this is where I’m going.’ You can sense it, it oozed off him. … That’s literally the vibe from the time to step foot on campus to the time you graduated. It wasn’t “My way or the highway,” but his way was the way. It wasn’t something that you didn’t want to do. … Why wouldn’t you go play for a guy that looks like basketball is an afterthought?
“He’s already winning at life, and this dude has it together, and I’m gonna go play basketball for him. He just oozed success, and I just know that’s how a lot of people feel when they talk about Coach Olson.”
Why do you think Olson was able to sustain winning and attract quality players to Arizona?
A: “Every college coach needs a flagship player to plant their flag and start their legacy, it’s unavoidable. You gotta have one guy that puts you on the map, and in Coach Olson’s case, he had three or four when you talk about Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr and those guys. Guys that came in and established something.
“So when I’m showing up on campus in 1991, Sean Elliott was already one of the best players in the NBA, and he just went through running these sprints, he had just taken showers over there in that locker room. What he had us do, the results were so visible.
“So visible, that the results would come back to Tucson every summer and play pickup with us, and we’re looking at these ripped, shredded gods, who score baskets like we breathe, and they say, ‘You know what? You keep doing what coach tells you to do, you’re going to be right here with us.’ … When you come to Arizona, you have a mindset that you’re going through everything Richard (Jefferson) went through, what Channing (Frye) went through, everything Gilbert Arenas went through, and it’s not even up for debate, because that’s what you signed up for. That was a key to his success.”
What’s your favorite memory of Olson?
A: “My favorite memory happened off the court. It was probably at one of the weirdest times of my life, because in my senior year, we had just lost the last game of the season to Kansas (in the Sweet 16), and I had just taken off my Arizona jersey for the last time.
“I was depressed and we were all depressed, because our season was over and we were never going to play at McKale Center and in an Arizona jersey ever again. I remember we were flying back to Tucson and I was at baggage claim, and I had got a bit of good news: I had just found out I was selected to be in the Nike top-40 (players list) for the NBA draft.
“To me, I was so depressed that we had lost, but there was a small validation in me for how my basketball career was. I was Mr. Basketball candidate, got to Arizona and then the bottom just dropped from under my career, and I spent the first year-and-a-half on the bench. … For me, it was weird day, because I just heard that I was in the top 40 and dreams of playing in the NBA were still alive — more alive than ever before based on the four games I played in the (NCAA Tournament). Coach O came up to me at baggage claim and said, ‘So I hear you’re going to the ‘Desert Classic.’ I’m thinking, ‘It’s the Phoenix Suns, it’s right up the street, you’re tight with (Dick) Van Arsdale,’ and I’m about to thank him like, ‘I know you probably put in a call and a good word,’ because all four seniors were going.
“Before I could say anything else, he said, ‘I want you to know that I had just found out about that myself. I had nothing to do with that.’ He made it a point to let me know that I had achieved that on my own and that he was proud of me. It was really the best moment I had with him, because up until that point, it was, ‘Do this, or you don’t play. Play this way, or you’re going to sit on the bench. Make yourself in the way I need you to be useful, and then I’ll decide if you can go out there on the court in an Arizona jersey.’
“When you earned his respect and earned his confidence, he wasn’t a vocal guy. He wasn’t an “Atta’ boy!” type of coach. I remember one game at Oregon, I hit three 3-pointers in a row and I came to the bench, walked right by him and he didn’t say anything. ‘What, are we going to celebrate greatness? That’s what we do here. I recruited you to dominate Oregon. I’m not going to high-five you for dominating Oregon.’ That was Coach O.
“He would speak well of his players to the media, but that cheerleading praise and hype, he didn’t do that. So to have this guy, who was a basketball icon, make his way over to baggage claim to tell me that I had achieved something on my own merit that he had nothing to do with… That was probably the most we talked in my time at Arizona, but the fact that it came from coach, that was a moment that I’ll always remember, because we all wanted coach’s approval.”
If you say anything Olson right now, what would you tell him?
A: “It would be an inside joke between me and him, but I would be like, ‘Thank you for saying no,’ because he knew exactly what I needed to hear and he knew exactly how I needed to be treated to get the best out of me.
“I wasn’t aware of that and it was a very painful process. I would tell Coach O, ‘Thank you for telling me no when I complained, when I whined, when I acted like I wanted preferential treatment.’
“When I was trying to rationalize and try to make excuses, he’d reject them. He held his line with me, he didn’t fold, he didn’t crease, and I had to get on his level, and I thank him for that, because whether he knew it or not, he knew I was smart enough to do the things he was asking me to do. ‘Are you putting forth the effort? Are you concentrating?
“That’s the only reason you’re not doing the exact same thing this other player is doing, because you’re both talented — hell, I recruited both of you so I know exactly what both of you are capable of. So unless you come to practice locked in mentally, you’re wasting your time, you might as well go home.’
“Every kid has that rebellion in them where they don’t like harsh realities, and they want to complain or strike a deal and want things, he was like, ‘Nah.’ I’m so grateful that Coach O was tougher on me than life was going to be. That’s the best way I can put it. He was tougher on me than the real world was about to me.
“So when I started playing ball after college and started traveling, things didn’t come easy, but I was prepared for them. I hit the ground more prepared than I ever been in my life — mentally. That’s the struggle. It’s not your physical, it’s your mental. If I could talk to coach, I’d tell him thank you for being coach and not compromising anything with any of us, because it wouldn’t have helped us.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today had he taken it easy on me.”
