Grand Canyon University Athletics
Coro: Colangelo honored at huge GCU affair
9/20/2017 11:11:00 PM | General, Paul Coro
More than 400 dignitaries paid tribute to Phoenix sports icon
It was a night to honor Jerry Colangelo's legendary work and impact.
It was a night to christen a Grand Canyon museum constructed in tribute to Colangelo.
It was a night that filled the GCU Arena with Hall of Famers, sports stars, friends and family who came to honor him.
Yet, Colangelo made Wednesday night's tribute less about how he lifted the sports and civic landscapes of Phoenix or how he remains a global basketball magnate and more about his appreciation of friends, family, colleagues and the GCU community that created the museum and the event.
"A Night to Honor a Legend" opened the doors to the Jerry Colangelo Museum for the first time on the eve of Thursday's public opening. More than 400 people toured the museum, enjoyed dinner in GCU Arena and heard a program that took a deep dive into the Colangelo way.
Near the program's close and backed by "The Godfather" score, Colangelo took the stage that was set up like a living room. The overhead video screen was made to look like a giant window peeking into the downtown Phoenix sports destinations that he helped create. Admittedly humbled and moved by it all, Colangelo used his time to thank others who helped him build the Suns into the NBA's fourth winningest franchise and the Diamondbacks into 2001 World Series champions, reinvigorate USA Basketball to a 12-year world domaniance and put his stamp on GCU academically and athletically.
"I thank all of them for their participation in my journey and my life," Colangelo said. "I've often said God, I believe, has a plan for everyone's life and He's had a plan for my life. Sometimes, it's hard for me to understand why all these things happen to me. But those were the cards dealt me and I'm doing the very best I can to play it out."
The dignitaries came from all facets of Colangelo's life.
Tom Chambers, Walter Davis, GCU men's basketball head coach Dan Majerle, Al McCoy, Dick Van Arsdale and Paul Westphal represented the Suns Ring of Honor that includes Colangelo. There were members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for which he is enshrined and chairs (Van Chancellor, Teresa Edwards, Alex English, Dan Issel, Mannie Jackson, Bernard King, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Jamaal Wilkes). There were Diamondbacks from his time (Jay Bell, GCU baseball head coach Andy Stankiewicz and Junior Spivey) and beyond it (Tony LaRussa).
An opening video chronicled Colangelo's life in photos, just as the museum does from his Chicago roots to his 50-year impact on Phoenix. The stage featured a seven-man panel with Westphal, retired The Arizona Republic/The Phoenix Gazette executive Bill Shover, Colangelo business partner Mel Shultz, former Suns and Diamondbacks executive Rich Dozer, Basketball Hall of Fame CEO John Delova, Republic columnist Dan Bickley and FOX 10 sports anchor Jude LaCava.
GCU president Brian Mueller and Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton shared how Colangelo helped transform the university and the city. Before McCoy introduced each panelist, a video played from Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who Colangelo tapped to coach USA Basketball for its run of five international gold medals.
Krzyzewski called it the best 11 years of his coaching life, in part for having seen Colangelo's ability to sustain excellence based on his standards of honesty and trust.
"You let everyone own it so they have the opportunity to feel the pride of something bigger than them," Krzyzewski said. "The last three decades, there is no one on this planet who has done more for basketball than you."
Before the night capped with GCU basketball players giving Colangelo a framed replica of a "Thanks, Jerry" full-page display that GCU put in Phoenix Business Journal and The Republic, the panelists offered more insight and perspective into the guest of honor:
It was a night to christen a Grand Canyon museum constructed in tribute to Colangelo.
It was a night that filled the GCU Arena with Hall of Famers, sports stars, friends and family who came to honor him.
Yet, Colangelo made Wednesday night's tribute less about how he lifted the sports and civic landscapes of Phoenix or how he remains a global basketball magnate and more about his appreciation of friends, family, colleagues and the GCU community that created the museum and the event.
"A Night to Honor a Legend" opened the doors to the Jerry Colangelo Museum for the first time on the eve of Thursday's public opening. More than 400 people toured the museum, enjoyed dinner in GCU Arena and heard a program that took a deep dive into the Colangelo way.
Near the program's close and backed by "The Godfather" score, Colangelo took the stage that was set up like a living room. The overhead video screen was made to look like a giant window peeking into the downtown Phoenix sports destinations that he helped create. Admittedly humbled and moved by it all, Colangelo used his time to thank others who helped him build the Suns into the NBA's fourth winningest franchise and the Diamondbacks into 2001 World Series champions, reinvigorate USA Basketball to a 12-year world domaniance and put his stamp on GCU academically and athletically.
"I thank all of them for their participation in my journey and my life," Colangelo said. "I've often said God, I believe, has a plan for everyone's life and He's had a plan for my life. Sometimes, it's hard for me to understand why all these things happen to me. But those were the cards dealt me and I'm doing the very best I can to play it out."
The dignitaries came from all facets of Colangelo's life.
Tom Chambers, Walter Davis, GCU men's basketball head coach Dan Majerle, Al McCoy, Dick Van Arsdale and Paul Westphal represented the Suns Ring of Honor that includes Colangelo. There were members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for which he is enshrined and chairs (Van Chancellor, Teresa Edwards, Alex English, Dan Issel, Mannie Jackson, Bernard King, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Jamaal Wilkes). There were Diamondbacks from his time (Jay Bell, GCU baseball head coach Andy Stankiewicz and Junior Spivey) and beyond it (Tony LaRussa).
An opening video chronicled Colangelo's life in photos, just as the museum does from his Chicago roots to his 50-year impact on Phoenix. The stage featured a seven-man panel with Westphal, retired The Arizona Republic/The Phoenix Gazette executive Bill Shover, Colangelo business partner Mel Shultz, former Suns and Diamondbacks executive Rich Dozer, Basketball Hall of Fame CEO John Delova, Republic columnist Dan Bickley and FOX 10 sports anchor Jude LaCava.
GCU president Brian Mueller and Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton shared how Colangelo helped transform the university and the city. Before McCoy introduced each panelist, a video played from Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who Colangelo tapped to coach USA Basketball for its run of five international gold medals.
Krzyzewski called it the best 11 years of his coaching life, in part for having seen Colangelo's ability to sustain excellence based on his standards of honesty and trust.
"You let everyone own it so they have the opportunity to feel the pride of something bigger than them," Krzyzewski said. "The last three decades, there is no one on this planet who has done more for basketball than you."
Before the night capped with GCU basketball players giving Colangelo a framed replica of a "Thanks, Jerry" full-page display that GCU put in Phoenix Business Journal and The Republic, the panelists offered more insight and perspective into the guest of honor:
- Westphal on the Suns' 1976 NBA Finals team: "Jerry believed in that team. Phoenix was an outpost in those days. If that team hadn't happened, I wonder how different the city would have been."
- Dozer: "The players loved Jerry and that wasn't because he was always nice to them. He was tough with them and firm with them."
- Doleva: "He changed the course of history for the Basketball Hall of Fame and guaranteed that it would have a future."
- LaCava: "He connected with fans and people at a level that is unprecedented."
- Bickley: "I have never seen a man, who is so powerful, handle it with such grace."
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