Besides the pride and privilege Lute Olson gave us in his years as head basketball coach at the University of Arizona, the hoopla surrounding the overdue good-bye ceremonies last week reminded me of a troubling tendency we have in Tucson taking talent for granted.

I worry it happens more times than we care to admit in the business world but it takes the celebrity stature of a guy like Olson to really shine a light on it.

In his 25 years at the UA, Olson took teams to 23 consecutive NCAA tournaments, made five Final Four appearances and won the championship in 1997. He made the UA and Tucson into a force when it comes to college basketball.

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In his final contract, Olson was paid $1.1 million a year. His replacement is going to get $2 million a year and that’s before he has even coached his first official Wildcats game. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt that Sean Miller isn’t worth the money. And I also get the parts about times changing and inflation.

It also looks like UA Athletic Director Jim Livengood managed to dodge not one but two bullets in the search process for Olson’s replacement. First, supposedly losing out by not persuading Louisville coach Rick Pitino to come here because he was rumored to cost almost twice as much as Miller. Now Pitino is in danger of losing his current $2.25 million a year job after fessing up he had a sexual encounter with a woman other than his wife in August 2003 and then paid her $3,000, reportedly for an abortion. Then there was Tim Floyd, who the UA came dangerously close to landing. He later resigned in the midst of allegations he gave $1,000 to a man who helped steer a former star player to his USC Trojans.

So why is it that ability, talent and class and living in Tucson can’t be all combined into attracting and keeping high-paying people here?

Remembering Bill Estes

While I’m on the subject of inspirational people Tucsonans were once privileged to have in our midst, I want to remember Bill Estes Jr. who died Aug. 9. In his day running Estes Homes, he had to take his share of shots from the anti-development crowd but he always seemed to strive to make Tucson better. He put money where he believed it would do good, especially when it came to education. He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Wildcat School, a charter school collaboration with the University of Arizona College of Education that recruits low-income and minority students.

Besides the 40,000 homes he built in Arizona, Estes was the driving force behind major developments of Midvale Park, La Reserve and Ventana Canyon, including Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. Earlier this year, when he was given life membership as a member of the Tucson Airport Authority, fellow developer and airport board member Chris Sheafe noted Estes personally worked on the negotiations that brought Morris Air, forerunner of Southwest Airlines, to Tucson.

Contact David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237.