Al Schallau Says Pete Newell, Sharm Scheuerman Responsible for Iowa Hiring Lute Olson [But It Was Al Who Made the Phone Call To Bump Elliott]

Longtime University of Iowa sports fan Al Schallau, who now lives in California, is often given credit for being the man responsible for Lute Olson becoming the Hawkeyes' basketball coach prior to the 1974-1975 season.

Now -- with the death of Pete Newell -- Schallau goes into detail in an e-mail to me about what actually took place at that time.

Here's his message, titled, "Pete Newell and Sharm Scheuerman: Now It Can Be Told:"

Ron,

"I am saddened to learn that Pete Newell passed away. I met him twice and he was the same wonderful man in private as he was in public.

"In December, 1955, the Iowa Hawkeyes' Fabulous Five basketball team was anything but fabulous. The Hawkeyes lost three straight on a west coast trip that included a 70-45 loss to Pete Newell's California Golden Bears. That night, the Hawkeyes were awful.

"Senior point guard Sharm Scheuerman was sitting by himself in the bleachers after the game, feeling far down in the dumps. Pete Newell went and sat next to Sharm and talked to him for a long time, offering him many words of encouragement for their upcoming Big Ten Conference games.

"The Hawkeyes lost their first Big Ten game to Michigan State, but won their next 13, plus winning three NCAA tournament games before losing to Bill Russell and USF in the NCAA championship game.

"Pete Newell and Sharm Scheuerman became lifelong friends. As he was to so many others, Pete was a mentor to Sharm, which lasted long after Sharm's years as Iowa basketball coach.

"In March, 1974, I called Bump Elliott to recommend that he hire Long Beach State basketball coach Lute Olson. Bump had never heard of Lute, so he called Sharm and asked him to 'Call some of your friends on the west coast and check out Lute Olson.'

"Sharm called Pete Newell, who said, 'Lute is a solid basketball man. As a game coach, he is as good as you will find in the college ranks.'

"You can say anything you want to about Lute Olson. But one fact will always be uppermost in my mind. Lute's teams (at Iowa and at Arizona) could come from behind to win games as well as any teams in the country. Iowa's win over Georgetown in 1980 will always stand out in my mind.

"Pete Newell and Sharm Scheuerman were the men responsible for Lute Olson being hired as Iowa Hawkeye basketball coach.

"Best,"

Al Schallau

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Thanks for that history lesson, Al. Sharm Scheuerman [pictured at the left as a Hawkeye player] lettered on coach Bucky O'Connor's Iowa teams in 1954. 1955 and 1956. After O'Connor's death, Scheuerman had a 72-69 record as the Hawkeyes' coach from 1959-1964. Lute Olson was 168-90 as Iowa's coach from 1975-1983, then took the job at Arizona. He's now retired from that job. Pete Newell and longtime friend Bobby Knight are pictured at the right. That's Newell on the left, Knight on the right].