O’Neill Is the Chosen One in the Desert: Arizona announced that interim coach Kevin O’Neill will be the Wildcats’ next head coach whenever Lute Olson decides to retire. However, the job is still Olson’s, even though he will miss the rest of this season to handle personal matters. Olson announced two weeks ago that he would not return this season after requesting a leave of absence in November. He and his wife are in the process of completing a divorce.
On the sidelines, O’Neill has led Arizona to a 7-2 record, and the team appears ready to compete with the Pac-10’s best. O’Neill was successful as a college head coach at Marquette but struggled in stints at Tennessee and Northwestern. He also fizzled as an NBA coach with the Toronto Raptors. However, plenty of coaches have failed at Northwestern and Toronto. O’Neill will take over a program that, as of this season, has a 23-year run of making the NCAA Tournament. Olson will leave O’Neill with a well-established program that has high standards. [12/18/07]
