CHAMPAIGN – Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Phoenix Suns and a former University of Illinois basketball standout, will return to campus April 8 to deliver the V. Dale Cozad Lecture in Entrepreneurship.

The speech is slated for 4 p.m. that day in the Deloitte Auditorium of the Business Instructional Facility at 515 E. Gregory Drive, C.

Colangelo, 70, has been associated with the Phoenix Suns since 1968 and has served as general manager, head coach, president, managing general partner and chief executive officer of the NBA team.

He also was part of a group that brought Major League Baseball to the Phoenix area in 1998, through creation of the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise.

Colangelo also figured in efforts to bring Phoenix a National Hockey League franchise (the Phoenix Coyotes) and to create franchises there for a Women's National Basketball Association team (the Phoenix Mercury) and an Arena Football League team (the Arizona Rattlers).

Born in 1939, Colangelo grew up in the Chicago Heights area and initially enrolled at the University of Kansas. But he transferred to the UI, where he was captain of the basketball team his senior year. He also played two years of baseball at Illinois before receiving his degree in 1962.

Colangelo spent two years in the 1960s with the Chicago Bulls working as marketing director, scout and assistant to the president before moving to Arizona.

More recently, he assembled the coaches and players of the U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He was also named chair of USA Basketball's board of directors for the 2009-2012 team.

Colangelo has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He ranked 60th in BusinessWeek's annual "Power 100" ranking of the most powerful people in sports for 2008.

He and his wife, Joan – also a UI graduate – have four children. Their son, Bryan, is president and general manager of the NBA's Toronto Raptors.

The Cozad lecture was established by the College of Business through the efforts of Champaign businessman Peter Fox and endowed through the support of family and friends of Mr. Cozad. The event is co-sponsored by the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership.