Lute Olson’s love life has been in shambles for the past year or so. The Arizona b-ball coach went through a divorce so messy & TMZ-worthy that it cost him a whole season away from the Wildcat sidelines.

(“One of these days, Christine - POW! Right in the kisser!”)

But we hear that Lute’s heart has been mended once again, and he’s found a new lovely lady to spend the rest of his life with - who happens to be 27 years his junior.

Gary Parrish of CBS SPORTSLINE checks the social calendar of the TUCSON CITIZEN, and learns that the 74-year-old Olson is engaged to 47-year-old Kelly Pugnea. Lute made the announcement during the team’s Dream Invitational at the school’s student union last week.

And it sounds like Kelly, a Tucson resident for the past 25 years, has made Lute’s dreams come true:

“She’s a fantastic lady,” Olson told the Citizen on Wednesday night. “Everyone who meets her finds her very, very special.”

This will be marriage #3 for Olson. Previous to his short 5-year run with Christine, Lute spent 47 happy years with wife #1 Bobbi, who sadly passed away from ovarian cancer in 2001.

No wedding date has been set yet. (Probably depends on how far the Wildcats go in the NIT NCAAs.) Wonder if Kevin O’Neill will be Lute’s best man, since he did such a serviceable job coaching his team last season.