Jerry Colangelo was invited to be the inaugural speaker of World’s Best Connectors’ Wish I Had Known series, not just because he is an international sports icon, but because of his stellar reputation as a father, a man of faith, a community leader, and is one of the reasons Arizona is one of the top sports cities in the US. Colangelo and his wife, Joan, whom he met on a blind date while at the University of Illinois, have four children: Kathy Holcombe, Kristen Young, Bryan and Mandie Colangelo, and nine granddaughters and four grandsons and two great grandchildren. We could think of no one better to kick off this online series of programs to provide valuable information to other parents.

Colangelo prepped at Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights, Ill., where he was an all-state basketball honoree as a senior and the top pitcher on the baseball team. Upon graduation he had 66 scholarship offers for college basketball and seven professional baseball contract offers. At the University of Illinois, he earned All-Big Ten honors and was later inducted into the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. He also played two years of baseball at Illinois.

From playing, to coaching, to being an influential leader in the NBA and internationally, Jerry Colangelo’s professional career is a story of remarkable success. Taking control in 2005 of the USA National Team Program, which had not won a major international competition since 2000, Colangelo confidently rebuilt the program from the bottom up. Obtaining the involvement of the NBA’s top players, and securing the involvement of some of basketball’s most respected coaches, under Colangelo’s leadership, the US claimed three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com in 2012 selected Colangelo as one of Phoenix's 15 all-time most influential citizens. The Arizona Republic also named him the Most Influential Sports Figure in Arizona for the 20th century, and the Phoenix Business Journal regularly voted him among its “Most Influential” businesspersons.

Colangelo was the face of the NBA Phoenix Suns franchise from their inaugural season in 1968 through 2012. While with the Suns, his roles included general manager, head coach, president, managing general partner, chief executive officer and chairman. His 43-year tenure with the Phoenix Suns came to an end in 2012 and was at the time the longest in the NBA. His overall impact on the game of basketball has been so significant he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April 2004.

Colangelo brought Major League Baseball to Phoenix in 1998 and served as Chairman and CEO of the 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Going from expansion team to World Series champion in just four years was a record for Major League Baseball. Arizona won the National League West in just its second season to become the fastest expansion team in baseball history to qualify for the postseason, just as the Suns did in their second season in 1969-70. Colangelo was also on the founding committee for the WNBA, helping advance professional women's basketball in the U.S. The Phoenix Mercury were one of the WNBA's inaugural teams in 1997, set a league attendance record in their first season, advanced to the 1998 WNBA Finals, and qualified for the playoffs three times.

Finally, Colangelo also was the key person in facilitating the move of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets to Arizona in 1996, where they became the Phoenix Coyotes.

Currently a principal partner of JDM Partners LLC, Colangelo has served as a leader of innumerable boards, and member of countless business, educational, and charitable organizations.

The author of two books, Return of the Gold which profile Colangelo’s journey and experience with the Redeem Team, and How You Play the Game, his insight into the world of the business of sports and his own life.