Most of the greatest figures of the Arizona men’s basketball program were in attendance for Lute Olson’s retirement celebration in McKale Center on Saturday, but there were some faces that were obviously missed – Channing Frye and Gilbert Arenas come to mind. Tom Tolbert (1986-88) also didn’t show because his son’s baseball team went farther in a tournament than expected.

But the biggest omission on Saturday was arguably Miles Simon, the MVP and face of Arizona’s beloved 1997 national championship.

Simon served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats from 2005 until 2008, when the school announced that his contract was not being renewed, allegedly without any reason from UA athletics director Jim Livengood, other than the university was headed in a different direction.

The UA and Simon don’t have the greatest past, outside of the national title. Simon sued the UA in 1998 for releasing his grades, leading the Kansas City Star newspaper to allege that he was slipping through academic loopholes at the UA. The $1 million lawsuit stated that he was “”held up to public ridicule and his privacy was invaded, and he was humiliated.””

The lawsuit was dismissed by two judges.