THE LUTE OLSON AWARD

2018 Lute Olson Award

April 2, 2018

THE 2018 OLSON AWARD
 

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Villanova’s Jalen Brunson is the recipient of the 2018 Lute Olson National Player of the Year award.
 
The 6-foot-3 junior has spent the month of March collecting hardware, while leading the Wildcats to the National Championship game.  For the season he is averaging 19.2 points, while shooting nearly 53 percent from the floor. 
 
“Jalen Brunson is a leader in the truest sense of the word," said CollegeInsider.com's Angela Lento. "He is the best player on the best offensive team in college basketball."
 
The Big East Player of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year has also won the Associated Press National Player of the Year, the Oscar Robertson Player of the Year and the Naismith Award. The Wooden Award, will be announced on Friday, April 6th.

Brunson was also named the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player..

The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player in College Basketball.

Lute Olson won 780 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.
 

2017-18 LUTE OLSON ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Grayson Allen 6-5 Sr. Duke
Deandre Ayton 7-1 Fr. Arizona
Marvin Bagley III 6-11 Fr. Duke
Keita Bates-Diop 6-7 Jr. Ohio State
Jaylen Barford 6-3 Sr. Arkansas
Joel Berry II 6-2 Sr. North Carolina
Trevon Bluiett 6-6 Sr. Xavier
Mikal Bridges 6-7 So. Villanova
Miles Bridges 6-7 So. Michigan State
Jalen Brunson 6-3 Jr. Villanova
Jevon Carter 6-2 Sr. West Virginia
Gary Clark Jr. 6-7 Sr. Cincinnati
Clayton Custer 6-1 Jr. Loyola Chicago
Mike Daum 6-9 Jr. South Dakota State
Carsen Edwards 6-3 Jr. Purdue
Jon Elmore 6-3 Jr. Marshall
Keenan Evans 6-3 Sr. Texas Tech
Marcus Foster 6-3 Sr. Creighton
Devonte Graham 6-2 Sr. Kansas
Rob Gray 6-1 Sr. Houston
Ethan Happ 6-10 Jr. Wisconsin
Tra Holder 6-1 Sr. Arizona State
Aaron Holliday 6-1 Jr. UCLA
Markus Howard 5-11 So. Marquette
Nick King 6-7 Sr. Middle Tennessee
Kevin Knox 6-9 Fr. Kentucky
Jock Landale 6-11 Sr. Saint Mary's
Caleb Martin 6-7 Jr. Nevada
Yante Maten 6-8 Sr. Georgia
Luke Maye 6-8 Jr. North Carolina
Brandon McCoy 7-0 Fr. UNLV
Jordan Murphy 6-6 Jr. Minnesota
Collin Sexton 6-3 Fr. Alabama
Allonzo Trier 6-5 Fr. Arizona
Trae Young 6-2 Fr. Oklahoma

 

The Lute Olson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I player.
 
The award is named in honor of Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, 24 of which were spent at the University of Arizona. During that stretch he led the Wildcats to 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, four Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 1997.
 
Olson is one of just 25 head coaches in NCAA history to win 700 or more games (all divisions) and ranks ninth on the Division I career victories list. He finished with a winning percentage of .731 and is the all-time winningest coach in Arizona history with 587-190 record (.755). He was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year seven times. Olson also guided Arizona to 20 consecutive 20-win seasons, and is one of only three coaches in NCAA history to record 29 or more 20-win seasons.
 
In 2002, Olson was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
The Lute Olson award voting panel is made up of current division I coaches, athletic administrators, and senior College Insider staff members.  The recipient of the 2024-25 award will be announced in April, in San Antonio, TX site of the men's Division I NCAA Basketball Championship.

The Lute Olson award is presented annually to the top division I player as voted on by the award committee. 
 
The 10-member voting committee consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.
 
The award is presented annually at the site of the men's Division I NCAA basketball championship. 

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