Doctor says Arizona's Olson suffered a stroke

Coach was urged to retire after discovery

Lute Olson's doctor said the former Arizona basketball coach had a stroke within the last year and he advised him to retire.

Olson, 74, suddenly announced his retirement last week, two days after he appeared at the Wildcats' media day. He said at the time he was "energized" and looking forward to his 25th season with Arizona.

Dr. Steven Knope said yesterday an MRI confirmed the stroke, which left Olson with severe depression and impaired judgment.

"This is a rather cruel twist of fate," Knope said at a McKale Center news conference. "He is quite literally devastated. He was doing great over the summer and very much wanted to fulfill his obligation to the community and the university."

Knope said Olson is resting at home and is on a blood thinner, and he's optimistic Olson will recover.

Over the last few weeks, Knope said he had talked to Olson about retiring because Olson was struggling to handle his workload as preseason practice opened. Knope said he ordered an MRI Monday after Olson did not respond to recent treatment for depression.

UMass picked sixth in A-10

The University of Massachusetts was picked sixth in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference preseason voting by the league's coaches and media. The Minutemen's Chris Lowe, who led the conference in assists last season, was named to the preseason all-conference team. Xavier, which advanced to the Elite Eight in last season's NCAA Tournament, was picked to win the league title, receiving 44 of 61 first-place votes. Rhode Island was picked ninth . . . Police in Hamden, Conn., are investigating several complaints of racism at Quinnipiac University, including slurs and harassing phone calls directed at black players on the school's basketball team.

UConn undecided on QB

Connecticut football coach Randy Edsall says he hasn't decided whether to start Zach Frazer or Cody Endres at quarterback against West Virginia Saturday. Frazer took over the job when senior Tyler Lorenzen suffered a knee injury against Louisville in September. The sophomore played in losses to North Carolina and Rutgers, suffering a head injury against the Scarlet Knights Oct. 18. Endres took over last week, leading the Huskies to a 40-16 win over Cincinnati, but completed just 18 of 42 passes for 196 yards . . . Fifteen North Texas football players failed drug tests conducted this fall at the request of coach Todd Dodge. Eighty-six players tested from Sept. 24-Oct. 15 were chosen by the coaching staff and were considered regular contributors to the team. Dodge said he couldn't specify the types of drugs, but later referred to them generally as "street drugs." North Texas (0-8) is off to the worst start in school history and tied with Washington for the nation's longest losing streak at nine games.