A COACH AND A GENTLEMEN
By Lute Olson, Arizona

Fred Taylor was a true Gentlemen


Recently college basketball lost one of its great ambassadors, with the passing of Fred Taylor. Coach Taylor's influence was far reaching, as many of his philosophies and methods of teaching are still widely used today.

When I arrived at Iowa, prior to the start of the 1974-75 season, coach Taylor was putting the finishing touches on his marvelous coaching career. His achievements on the basketball court are well documented, but as great of a coach as he was, he was an even better person.

Coach Taylor retired following the 1976 season, the same year that one of his former players put together one of the greatest seasons in the history of the game. Bob Knight's Indiana team went undefeated that season and to this day coach Knight credits coach Taylor for much of his success.

And coach Knight, like so many others, can attest to what a truly great person he was as well.

Every time we traveled to Columbus, to face Ohio State, I would always have an opportunity to visit with coach Taylor. It was something that I looked forward to, having admired all that he had brought to the game of basketball.

Coach Taylor was always easily approachable for coaches and fans alike. You would often see him accommodating autograph seekers and just interacting with fans.

When I was coaching at the high school and junior college levels, I can recall seeing him at the Final Four and he was so willing to talk about the game with me and many other young coaches.

Here was a coach that had won a National Championship in 1960 and took his team to the Championship game in each of the following two seasons and yet he was so down to earth.

Generally speaking, when someone is that successful all of the young aspiring coaches try to pick up ideas from that person. And so many of us incorporated some of his ideas into our philosophies as coaches.

Many of us looked at some of the shooting regiments that helped to make Jerry Lucas one of the great players to ever step onto the court. Lucas seemingly perfected the art of spot shooting and coach Taylor played a major role in his development.

As a coach he was a tremendous competitor. He got the most out of his teams and he instilled in all of his teams a willingness to sacrifice individual accolades for the success of the team.

Perhaps there is no greater example than John Havlicek who went onto to become on the greatest players to ever play in the NBA. Havlicek could have scored many more points than he did in college, but his desire to make the team better was a credit to his respect for coach Taylor.

And those who played for him credit him for their successes long after they had left Ohio State. He had a great influence on those who were closest to him, but he had a tremendous effect on all of us, which is still with us today.

Coach Taylor was a first class individual who influenced so many people in so many ways. He was an outstanding coach, but more importantly, he was a true gentleman.


Be sure to visit Coach Olson's official website, CoachLuteOlson.com, which is maintained by CollegeInsider.com.