The Drama in Arizona - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Arizona, in the space of a single year has gone from one of the most stable consistent programs in the country, to a complete and utter soap opera. Plot twists, betrayals, backstabbing, torn lovers -- the works.

You had Kevin O'Neill brought in last year as an assistant to improve the increasingly porous Wildcat defense. To do that, Head Coach Lute Olson pushed out his longtime assistant Jim Rosborough.

On the eve of the season, Lute Olson abruptly disappeared with only a press release, saying he needed time away. It stressed that it was a personal matter and it was not a health issue for the 73-year old Olson. It was expected to be a temporary thing so O'Neill was named the temporary interim coach.

Three weeks later, he was still not back and things remained muddled and unclear. A couple weeks later, it came out that Olson was divorcing his second wife. After that, it was announced that Olson would take the entire season off.

By mid-December, Arizona decided to elevate O'Neill from interim coach to coach-in-waiting. The reasoning seemed sound. Promote stability for the program, shore-up recruiting and just make public what many suspected would be the long-term plan when O'Neill was brought back in the first place.

Of course the best laid plans...
Of course, it was a tough season for Arizona, the players and the fans. Injuries and a complete change of style just added to it. Then there were the whispers behind the scenes. Lute Olson apparently was coming to the athletic facilities. He wasn't happy with how things were being run by O'Neill. There were reports of Olson meeting with players and undermining O'Neill. O'Neill, never the most cuddly guy, was rumored to be sniping and more about Olson. Just lots of conflict building.

Finally, Olson made it known that he would be back for 2008-09 and beyond.

That led to knew rumors, questions and intrigue. Did Arizona really want Olson back? What about O'Neill? Would they have to fire him, would he really go back to being an assistant? Why exactly did Olson take the time off?

Well, Kevin O'Neill decided to go back to being an assistant -- at least that's what he announced. Arizona's Athletic Director -- the same one who announced that O'Neill would be the coach-in-waiting -- expressed a view that O'Neill's status would still be under review.

Lute Olson, this past week has hit the media trail to try and explain the weirdness. As did Arizona AD Jim Livengood.

"That was the whole situation," Olson said of going through the divorce. "I obviously needed to take care of the stress and anxiety to be effective, to be fair to the kids [on the Arizona team]."

Olson said he plans on coaching through his contract, which ends in 2011. But that may not be it. He said he doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon.

And on Friday, it was clear that O'Neill won't be Olson's successor despite an announcement to the contrary on Dec. 18.

"Everything changes," Livengood said by phone Friday. "That was done at that time for a particular reason and it coincided with the extended leave of absence [for Olson]. Lute is back and coaching right now -- period. That's not what the situation was in December."

Olson later added that the divorce was only part of the reason for the stress and anxiety that caused him to take the year off -- though he didn't explain any more.

But hey, a couple interviews was insufficient. Lute Olson held a big, televised press conference yesterday.

It was a wide-ranging thing, but here are the highlights:

• Kevin O'Neill is done at Arizona. He won't be back as an assistant. If he doesn't get another job, he'll get his assistant salary of $375,000 just to stay away.

• Jared Bayless and Chase Budinger haven't decided one way or the other about the NBA Draft, but Olson wants them to come back. Nic Wise and Jemelle Horne are considering transfers.

• Olson doesn't like the local media. And they aren't that wild about him.

• As to why he claimed that his leave wasn't for medical reasons -- Olson blamed the people who wrote the press release for omitting it and then blamed the AD as to why he never clarified things.

Olson said Tuesday he would have liked to speak publicly about his leave before now, but thought he was prohibited.

"That's what I was told," he said, explaining Livengood and Rocky LaRose, senior associate director of athletics, told him that. The act restricts employers from speaking about an employee's reason for leave, but has no such proscriptions on the employee.

"I think it was a misinterpretation," Livengood said Tuesday afternoon. "Rocky and I told him we couldn't talk under the law and maybe he took that to mean he couldn't."

Things look like they are going to stay weird in Tuscon for a while.