Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939), is an American businessman and sports executive.

He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes.

In the summer of 2005, Colangelo was named director of USA Basketball whose team represented the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 FIBA World Championship. Colangelo also serves as Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), a nonprofit nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes Italian American culture and heritage.

Colangelo has been known for a no-nonsense ownership style. Players like the Suns' Dennis Johnson and Jason Kidd and the Diamondbacks' Bobby Chouinard have been traded or released after their personal problems became public.

Kenneth Hartley Blanchard (born May 6, 1939) is an American author and management expert. His book The One Minute Manager (co-authored with Spencer Johnson) has sold over 13 million copies and has been translated into 37 languages. He has coauthored over 30 other best-selling books, including Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service (1993), Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership (1985) (in which he coined the term seagull manager), Gung Ho! Turn On the People in Any Organization (1997), Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships (2002) and Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations (2006).

Blanchard is the Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Marjorie Blanchard, cofounded in 1979 in San Diego, California.

Blanchard was born in Orange, New Jersey and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He attended New Rochelle High School, graduating in 1957. He completed a BA degree in government and philosophy at Cornell University in 1961, a MA degree in sociology and counseling at Colgate University in 1963 and a PhD degree in education administration and leadership at Cornell University in 1967. As an undergraduate at Cornell, he joined the brotherhood of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), and Blanchard was selected for membership in the Quill and Dagger society. In the 1960s, Ken co-developed the Situational Leadership theory and model with Paul Hersey.

Tyreke Jamir Evans (born September 19, 1989) is an American professional basketball player with Sacramento Kings of the NBA. He played college basketball for the University of Memphis, and was selected by the Sacramento Kings as the 4th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Evans grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania, and was mainly raised by his three older brothers. He attended American Christian Academy in Aston, Pennsylvania, and by his sophomore year began drawing comparisons to NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady. As a senior, he averaged 32.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 4.3 steals. He was named the MVP of the McDonald's High School All-American Game and co-MVP (with Brandon Jennings) of the Jordan Brand Classic. At the age of 16, he was featured in the documentary Gunning for That #1 Spot directed by Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Evans was chosen to be the keeper of the SLAM Magazine High School Diary for the 2008 season.

In April 2008, Evans announced that he would attend the University of Memphis, after also considering Villanova University and the University of Texas.

Kevin Maurice Johnson (born March 4, 1966) is the current mayor of Sacramento, the capital city of the U.S. state of California. He is Sacramento's first African American mayor. Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a professional basketball player in the NBA, playing point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns. As a player, he was a three-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection who holds many records for the Phoenix Suns franchise. At University of California, Berkeley, Johnson had been a two-time All-Pac-10 Conference player who was also an honorable-mention All-American by the Associated Press sportswriters. Johnson was a 2000 graduate of the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute, a program that prepares students for work in faith-based urban economic revitalization. He also has a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley that he completed after his initial retirement from the NBA.

Johnson, the son of Georgia West and Lawrence Johnson, was born March 4, 1966 in Sacramento. After Johnson's father drowned in an accident in the Sacramento River, he was raised by his grandparents, the Peat family. He attended Sacramento High School, where he starred in both baseball and basketball and led the state of California in scoring (32.5 ppg) during his senior year.

Terius Youngdell Nash (Born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is known for co-writing chart topping hits such as "Baby" for Justin Bieber, "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" for Beyoncé, as well as for his three solo albums, Love Hate, Love vs. Money, and Love King.

Terius Nash was born in Rockingham, North Carolina and moved with his mother, Reva Nash, to Atlanta at the age of 3. He played trumpet, drums, and guitar as a child. His mother died in 1992 when Nash was fifteen years old, an event which would inspire him to write songs. He states that the death of his mother gave him a "soft spot" for women, which he credits to his desire to write songs about female empowerment such as Rihanna's "Umbrella". He moved in with his grandfather, a concrete mason who instilled a strong work ethic in young Nash. Of his grandfather, Nash recalls "He came out of a bad time for blacks in the South, but even though we lived in the hood, we had a boat, some cars and a house that was paid for. So I’ve always had a different outlook on life. There’s nothing I can’t do."