Arizona basketball coach Olson on leave, files for divorce

 

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson has filed for divorce although his wife says she remains committed to the marriage.
The 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach filed a divorce petition in Pima County Superior Court on Thursday, the same day he announced he would extend his leave from the team through the end of the season.
“The marriage has been irretrievably broken with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation,” Lute Olson’s lawyer, Leonard Karp, said Friday.
Christine Olson, 50, is the coach’s second wife.
Lute Olson and his first wife, Bobbi, were married for 47 years before her 2001 death from ovarian cancer. The couple had five children.
Gordon James, a Phoenix-based spokesman for Christine Olson, issued a statement on her behalf saying she received notice of the divorce filing Thursday night.
Christine Olson was in New York this week for meetings connected to her position as a Republican national committeewoman from Pennsylvania.
The Olsons were to have met in Chicago on Friday night, where the 22nd-ranked Wildcats arrived in advance of Saturday’s game against Illinois.
“Our family has been struggling through a difficult and private matter for some months now,” Christine Olson’s statement said. “It was our hope that during my husband’s temporary leave of absence, we would be able to focus on our family and successfully address this matter.
“Unfortunately, it seems that my husband has reached a decision that he is unable to continue our relationship together during this difficult time. While I am personally devastated, I remain committed to my marriage and will continue to support my husband through this difficult time in his life. I have nothing but love and respect for him.”
Christine Olson is still living in Tucson and will be remaining in the family home while Lute Olson apparently has moved out, according to James.
He said Christine Olson will be fighting for her marriage and trying to avoid a divorce.
Karp said he didn’t know if Lute Olson was in Tucson on Friday.
“His request basically was that people honor his privacy,” said Karp, who is authorized to speak on the coach’s behalf. “He’s taken a lot of time to make this decision. I think he needs the time to resolve these matters. Our hope is that once Christine retains her attorney that we can sit down and amicably resolve things.”
Olson announced his leave Nov. 4, saying the reasons were personal and not health related. In a statement released by the university Thursday night announcing the leave extension, Olson said he plans to coach the Wildcats for the 2008-09 season.
“There are personal issues within my family that need to be addressed and I must devote my full energy to that,” Olson said.
Karp said he didn’t believe Olson would rescind his leave in light of the divorce filing.
“I think his statement is his true feelings, that he will be back next year but that he needs this time during this season to resolve his personal problem,” Karp said.
Legal records supervisor Ray Rivas in the Superior Court clerk’s office said court rules bar public scrutiny of divorce petitions until the filer’s spouse has been served or 45 days have passed.
Olson has coached Arizona for 24 seasons and posted a 589-187 record with 23 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. His Wildcats have won 11 Pac-10 championships, reached the Final Four four times and won the 1997 NCAA title.
Assistant Kevin O’Neill, the interim coach while Olson is gone, said Friday he’s doing the best he can to fill in.
“I have great respect and admiration for what our players have done to this point in terms of focusing on basketball only in a very difficult situation – a situation that, really, there’s no blueprint for,” O’Neill said.
Senior guard Jawann McClellan said the players want Olson back “100 percent.”
“We wanted Coach Olson back more than anything, but first of all, we want him to do well and take care of Coach Olson,” McClellan said. “A lot of people don’t realize that he’s still human.”
Bobbi Olson Court after her death.
In 2003, Lute Olson married Christine Jack Toretti, a prominent, politically active Pennsylvania businesswoman. Toretti, who took Olson’s last name after their wedding, remains chief executive of an oil and gas drilling company and sits on several corporate boards. She has three sons from her first marriage.
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AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman in Chicago contributed to this report.