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LUTE OLSON: This is probably a long time in coming in terms of my being able to speak with you. The reason the press conference was extended to today was because Kevin O'Neill had his on Thursday. I didn't think it would be appropriate to follow him on Friday with a press conference. I was on the road Saturday, Sunday, Monday and got home here last night late. The University has indicated that they didn't feel they could comment on the details, so I don't feel that I should either, of my leave. Frankly, even though I realize I'm a public figure, I don't think I need to go into every nuance of my private life. There were things going on in my life that did create some health issues that I needed time to address. But it was not a health scare, which is what I really tried to articulate early on. Beyond that, I'm not going to get into any further detail about that, OK? So Bruce (Pascoe), you understand that just like everybody else does. OK? So as long as it doesn't have to do with anything related to the leave of absence, I'll be happy to take your questions.

A: The only thing — the assistants and I worked on a statement that was going to indicate that it was medically related but it was not a life-threatening situation or health scare. And unfortunately that was not what came out.

A: Mmm-mmm. But I hope you can see that I feel great. This issue, though, has raised my blood pressure all the way up to 113/65 and my resting heart rate has gone from 60 to 62. So I'm concerned about my health (smiling). And I don't want you to quote that or have that be a headline in your article, OK?

A: Now you can see why I refer to Bruce as Columbo. Oh (pointing), would you introduce yourself please?

A: Would you repeat that? (She repeats it). Do I look like I have a condition? Mr. Livengood said, 'Are you sure that you're ready to face this?, and I said absolutely.' And Renee, can I ask you a question? I didn't see the article, but I know that you wrote an article that indicated either rumors or an unnamed source indicated that I had been at a rehab center?

A: So it was a rumor?

A: OK, thank you. Frankly I don't read your articles, I apologize. But that's going beyond. I'd like to know what kind of a rehab facility I would go to. Because I don't smoke, I'll have some wine occasionally for medicinal purposes (smiles). My doctor says I should have two glasses of wine, and all of you in here should too — or grape juice would do it, I guess.

A: My family doctor, Dr. Steven Knope, examined me and said, 'You're ready for whatever you want to do.'

A: Prior to my announcing I was coming back.

A: No, no. I said when I took the leave that I would be back.

A: It was Jim and Rocky. Rocky LaRose, Jim Livengood.

A: Yes, but I'm already going beyond what I said I would do.

A: No, that's a personal issue. Thank you for asking, though.

A: Why didn't I go through sports information? Why, do you think I should have?

A: OK, so that's my fault. I thought the most important thing was that I would indicate why I was requesting the leave and ... Greg (Hansen), there's a lot of things I wouldn't go through you with, too. Because I've seen and heard plenty of things. So the good thing is you're not going to have to talk to me and I'm not going to have to talk to you. We're back where we were a few years ago.

A: I can give you my schedule. I came back Monday. On Monday, I had all of the returning players, including the walk-ons, scheduled for 15 minutes, a half hour, 45 minutes, whatever they needed. I started with that on Monday and I met individually with all the players. I can tell you what I told them — that No. 1, we're going to play Arizona basketball. No. 2, you're going to have fun doing what you're doing. And as the German philosopher said, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' And I can think of my experience in developing my philosophies of coaching that there were negative things that I had from coaches that I took, but I knew I would never do that as a coach. So you learn things from different sources. I apologize for what they had to go through in terms of the change. They came here to play a wide-open game and they didn't. That's no one's fault, because that's not coach O'Neill's belief on the offensive end. It was his team once I left. But I said, 'We're going to play Arizona basketball and we're going to have fun doing it. And there's negatives or positives. And I quoted the statement from the German philosopher that I think is very true. And so we just talked and we had a great time. And most of them left the office ready to start practice today — I mean on (last) Tuesday.

On Tuesday I met with our five seniors and Mohamed Tangara to make sure that they were OK with what they were going to be doing. And if I can help them in any way, all it would take would be for them to ask me. And what they would like to have me do. When I talked to Mohamed, he has one year left of his eligibility but he wants to be in a situation where he can play pretty much full-time. And I told him there were some programs that I thought would fit well with him but that he should narrow his choices down. I think a week from this weekend, he'll start making his visitations. He's carrying the heaviest schedule he's carried in his four years here. And I said, 'I don't want you on planes, tiring yourself out, not being ready for what you need to do academically.' I might add that he and four of the five seniors will be receiving their degree in May. The fifth of the seniors (Jawann McClellan) will have to come back for a semester of work because he had to take a semester of work out. So he has actually had 3 1/2 years and he'll complete his degree in four.

A: I had left Tucson on whatever day the divorce petition was filed. That was at the suggestion of my attorney — 'Get out of Dodge, get away from everything here' — not that you guys would be stressful. I did that. I watched every game on television. But I was not here day in and day out. We had already signed our four guys that we wanted on the early signing day, so this was behind us. Mr. Livengood felt that for continuity in the program that he would name Kevin as my successor. And as the athletic director who was here every day, he should be able to determine whether that was the case. He said, 'Do you have any objection?' I said, 'No, I don't have any objection. That's your job.'

A: No. I don't think that was a contractual situation. It was a verbal thing. I should continue with what I was talking about last Tuesday — that I met with coach O'Neill Tuesday afternoon and I said, 'I'm going to be back and will fulfill my contract though 2011.' And, in my opinion, beyond, God willing. Because I love doing what I do. As long as I'm effective and I have the energy to do it, I will do it. I said, 'Kevin, I don't know what your feeling is — do you want to be an assistant here for three more years, five more years?' He said no. So he's going to consider ... I asked him, because I heard rumors that he was interested in going back to the NBA, I asked him about that. He said, 'No, my preference would be a good-level college basketball program and, if not, become an assistant in the pros. When he said he's coming back or that he's going to fulfill the terms of his contract, he won't be on the staff. But he will — if he doesn't land a job — then the University will be responsible for the second year of his contract.

A: How can you interview for somebody that's not yet resigned?

A: I missed the, did he resign? Did somebody see that?

Wait a while, Columbo. Until he resigns officially, we cannot hire a replacement by NCAA rules. OK?

A: Three minutes after I walked in to talk to Frank, it was on the radio station in Phoenix.

A: Because somebody saw me come in to sit down and talk to Frank Johnson.

A: I don't think it changed from my perspective.

A: No.

A: I don't know; you'll have to ask Kevin about that.

A: One way it affected it, after I announced my leave, within a week, two of our top prospects — two committed to North Carolina and one committed to Georgetown. And certainly we were definitely No. 1 with one and very close to No. 1 with the other. It was a toss up, I think.

A: It won't be. I'll finish with what I started out with. I'm sorry. It's an age thing, OK? I talked to Kevin. Then I met on Friday night with some people that are supporting some activities here this spring, to make sure that they understood that I was back and had dinner with them. Saturday I left for San Diego. First of all, Thursday night I went up and visited for 3 1/2 hours with the Baylesses. If you want to know anything about that, I won't tell you. I drove back in, met with the people that I felt I needed to meet with to see that I was sane. Then my daughter Jody and I flew over to California, San Diego. On Sunday morning, I went to the 8:30 church service with the Witheys. Not Jeff, because he was en route back from the Schweitzer Games in Germany. He was going to get back late afternoon, and I knew he was going to be wiped out. So I went to church with them. Then I met with Johnnie Horne, Jamelle's father, for about 2 1/2 hours. Then the Budingers came over to our home in Coronado for five hours. We had a wonderful night. Then on Monday morning at 10 after 7, I had breakfast at the Witheys' house with Jeff there. We were there for about a half hour or a little more. And then I went to the school to talk to the coach of a 6-10, sophomore kid that everyone is interested in — just to make sure that he could tell his player that I was around to see him. I might mention that when we went to Phoenix on Friday, I had an opportunity to stop by and visit with coaches of, in my opinion, one of the best freshmen, certainly the best freshman in the state, and I think one of the best sophomores in the state. I talked with their coaches, because I wanted them to understand my first day out, I was covering Arizona.

A: I can't guess on that. And it's like I told the Baylesses, they as parents and the Budingers have an obligation to get as much information as they can in their hands. I will get as much information as I can in my hands. And it will be laid on the table. Jerryd is a very intelligent kid. Chase is a very intelligent kid. And it's not their parents' life, it's not my life, and no one should make their decisions for them.

A: Could we help them next year? No question. and that's one of the things I'll say. But it's still their decision. I have never — and you can check with any of the guys in our program — I have never told them to go or to stay. I've presented the information. I don't want that on my back. I don't want that kid to end up going and not being ready, and then it's my fault because I thought he was ready. Nor would I want them to stay and have something happen. I was asked, 'Where do you think Jerryd will go? Where will he be in the draft?' I said my information right now — and I don't think that would be right today because some things have happened — but I said fifth or sixth. I was asked, 'Do you think it would be fair for him to leave $2 million on the table? Have you ever had anyone else in that situation?' I said, 'Well, Sean Elliott had an opportunity to go probably in the top eight after his junior year, opted to stay, and all he made for his one year was $6 million difference in the contract.' Two million on the table — is it going to be worth $6 million? That's what Jerryd's going to have to make the decision about. But I'm not going to guess what's in their minds. I think they like the University. I think they know the NBA will be here a year from now. and I think their position would be much much better than what it is now. And I've told them that. But I've not told them, 'You need to stay.'

A: What I don't want to see them do is to do like Jason Gardner did when he put his name out there, went to Chicago, had a terrible few days in Chicago. You can only have your name out there twice, and the second time the pressure is really on. And I don't want them to put themselves in that position. But I want them to consider that in their position.

A: Once I got back here. But for those of you who may have said I was talking to players behind Kevin's back, I asked for permission from Kevin to talk with Chase and Jawann, because I felt I could help them confidence-wise. Because Jawann has been like my son since he's been here, and more so since his father's unexpected death. And Chase's confidence was way down, and I saw that same kind of thing at times during his freshman year. So I thought that I could help him. I visited with him.

A: I had a weak moment.

A: I was told that I could not talk.

A: I think after they read things that I had said to you two guys. So you're the two that got me in trouble.

A: I don't think so.

A: I'm not going to answer that question. That's Kevin's decision.

A: No I didn't. And I won't tell you where I went.

A: We signed the four top prospects we wanted, which is the second Wednesday in November, which is always the date for the early signing period. There were no conditions with any of them other than Emmanuel Negedu said either Coach O is there — and he told Josh (Pastner) — either Coach O is there as head coach or I'm not coming. OK? But there was nothing else said by any of the other three. Josh asked me about it. I said he has the right to ... because he's had offers to go to Europe and play. And he wanted to do that if I wasn't going to be coaching.

A: No. it's like I told them when I talked with them — I don't know if they could tell me whether their experience was a good one or not. The primary theme from all of the players was, 'Coach, we came here to play a wide-open style of basketball.' And they thought that would help them get to where so many of our players have gotten. But beyond our ... and this was a discussion only after I officially came back.

A: I had talked with Dr. Shelton and with Jim Livengood, because they felt there had to be some kind of timetable. It couldn't be a case of where suddenly I come back in February or something. So we agreed that by the first of the year I should make the decision as to whether I was ready to come back or not. I was not at that point.

A: The reason I took the leave was that I didn't feel I could be fair to the kids. Despite what maybe some of you think, the main thing I have in my 50 or 51 years has been the concern of the kids. That's foremost.

A: Physically, I could have come back in February. But that would have been very disruptive to everything that had been done. So there was no way I was going to come back at that point.

A: I do. Through my lifetime, if I was ever going to have bouts of anxiety, I think I probably would have had those when Bobbi died after 47 years of marriage. I was in shock like everybody else was.

A: I can't answer that.

A: Yeah, I have. When I requested the leave I said this is a personal issue and I hope that people will honor my request for privacy. People probably would have a hard time naming a coach that didn't send an e-mail to me and all the calls I've had since I've decided to come back have been more than I can tell you.

A: I had no option. I could not go out and coach and be fair to the kids.

A: I told the kids. But I didn't let them down. My health let them down. I said, 'I couldn't do anything about that. No. Would I have liked to have been completely healthy where I could have coached? You better believe I would have. I love my job.'

A: Compared to the blogs? Well, I think the media are professional people that I think should use good judgement. I think they should not be a rumor mill. I don't think they should be putting questions in people's mind. So some of you I think are very professional. There's some others I don't feel are very professional. There are some of you that don't feel I'm a very good coach. There are others of you that think I am a good coach. Everyone has a right to their own opinion.

A: Yeah. But you know what? Maybe the fans needed to realize that this program doesn't just operate, we don't just go into the gas station and fill the kids up with fuel and turn the key on and they ... these are kids. When somebody says something, I say, 'Have you ever had an 18-year-old kid?' Yeah. And then they realize that, 'Wow, what these kids, the pressure they go through as 18-, 19-, 20- year- olds.' I can tell you I couldn't be more proud of how this group handled everything. You never saw them complaining. I don't think they ever said anything publicity to any of you about anything other than discussing the game or what was happening. And I have great respect for them.

A: No way. That's why I haven't stopped since last Monday. And the only reason I'll stop this week is that it's a dead period, and starting tomorrow — actually starting today — we're not allowed to be off campus. The things I needed to get done I got done. The assistants have been making calls. Many of the young men that we're involved with that are currently sophomores we can't call until they're juniors, but I've talked with a number of them.

A: He's on vacation. He and Roberta left today. She's training to be a pilates instructor. And the reason they stayed until today was she had to be here through yesterday.

A: No. I think he's being interviewed by people now and will be interviewed by more at the Final Four, because that's a place it can be done without the press indicated that somebody is interested in this position or that position and getting them in a whole lot of trouble with their schools.

A: I was going to say that as far as the fans are concerned, I think probably as hard as I was, probably it was good for the fans to realize that it's not that easy. Some of you talk about the lack of defense, Bruce and others, that, why don't you check what our shooting percentage was against our team over the last three years with this year? Check on the rebounding, because we were usually one of the leaders in the league instead of 10th in the league. Will you do me a favor and do that, Bruce? I just want you to look at it, OK? A year ago, how many starters did we have that were freshmen?

A: No, don't interrupt please. I've asked a question. How many? Bruce, you cover us every day. How many freshmen?

A: A lot of the time. And we had a sophomore and we had two seniors, right? I should say also a junior with Jawann, but you know the health problems he had a year ago. He couldn't go. He worked out Monday. He did a light walk-through Wednesday and played Thursday and had nothing other than a walk-through on Friday and played sparingly on Saturday because of the swelling in his knees. In the offseason, as soon as the season was over, Neil Rampe, our trainer, got him on a machine downstairs. It's the size probably of this room with cameras that can trace every muscle of your body. If you're a golfer, don't go down there, because your game probably can't be helped that much. Nor can mine. So I'm not saying it just about you.

A: So what happened? Please, I'm not done yet. OK? What Neil found by having him jump was that he was coming down with too much pressure on his knees, not enough pressure on his buttocks on his hams and on his thighs, on his quads. It was a case of, 'You've gotta get your weight down but you've also gotta change how you're landing.' Neil worked with him all spring. Jawann dropped about 20 pounds by Neil talking with him of the importance of good nutrition. If he was going to have a future in basketball, he needed to do it and do it right away. This year, Jawann, I don't know he averaged, probably 37, 38 minutes a game, never had any swelling. So Neil Rampe is the person you can give credit for that. We had a lot of times last year, we had two starters in Chase — who was I think the Pac-10 freshman of the year, was he? — and Jordan Hill. We had Jawann, we had Mustafa and we had Ivan. When you look at who was coming off the bench, Daniel Dillon was one of our first guys, Bret Brielmaier as the season progressed. We lost a guy who had been a mainstay in our program in Kirk Walters for the year. So we had some things to overcome too that maybe you don't recall.

A: Oh really? Well, Daniel Dillon was still here I think. Was he the first guard off the bench a year ago, Bruce?

A: Was he last year? I didn't ask about this year. Bruce?

A: He was. First guy off the bench.

A: You don't look that old.

A: They just knew what I said. I think they could see why.

A: I don't want that. We talked. We decided as a threesome that it wouldn't be fair to Kevin, it wouldn't be fair to the players if all of a sudden I came back after January and we changed the offense.

A: No. No. By the first part of February, I could have come back.

A: Yes. Because I was starting to have a difficult time dealing with stress and anxiety.

A: Same thing as always. We can't recruit again now until the Thursday after the Final Four is over. I'll be on the road then.

A: UCLA. They're from our conference. I want our conference to do well.

A: I will go there. On Thursday nights, I always take my former coaches and players who are at the Final Four out to dinner, with their spouses and significant others and we have a great reunion. so we'll do that Thursday night. And Friday I'll attend all the head coaches meetings because I want my imput on some things and also to give me a chance to see all the head coaches. Friday night I'll attend a Nike coaches dinner. Before that I'll attend the, it's a reception similar to the Hall of Fame but it's for the College Hall of Fame. I'll attend that short, I guess it will be, a cocktail party. And then I will go on to the Nike coaches dinner, which will give me a great opportunity to see not only the coaches but their spouses. Saturday morning, I'll fly to Phoenix. I've been invited for years to fight night for Muhammad Ali's foundation. I'll be there on Saturday night. My date will be my daughter Christi who will be there Friday night for the private party. And we'll go to that. And if she asks me to dance, I'll refuse, as I always do. And then Sunday we'll come back home. So I'll watch games on TV.

A: How do you mean?

A: I don't think that's something that needs to be done.

A: People have been negative recruiting me since, for the last 10, 12 years. The interesting thing is there isn't another coach left in the conference that was here at that time telling our recruits that, 'Arizona's a great place to go to school but Coach O isn't going to be there.' Well, they're all gone and I'm still here.

A: Yes. As long as it's not considered negative, I do. Because we try to sell our programs and not try to knock other people's programs down.

A: Bruce, I talked 2 1/2 hours with Johnnie. No, no, why don't you call Johnnie Horne now?

A: At you or at me?

A: Don't go there, Bruce. You don't have a feel for the situation at all.

A: I think they handled it well. Because it was a personal matter and they protected my personal issues. And I thought they handled it very professionally.

A: I think I said I met with Dr. Shelton and Jim Livengood to set some kind of a timetable as far as, if I'm not ready to come back by the first of January, then in fairness to Kevin and fairness to the kids, and that was the date that was decided on. It was obvious to me that it wasn't a case of where I would be ready to return at that point. I made that decision in December as soon as I could to get me out of here and to let Kevin do his thing.

A: No.

A: I went where?

A: I think it was Dec. 7. I think it was Pearl Harbor Day, maybe.

A: Right. Because I knew at that point there was no way I'd be ready to go by Jan. 1.

A: (Reads statement). Beyond that I'm not going to get into any further detail.

A: I am really excited. I was ready to go out the day after I talked with our players, because I knew how excited they were.