CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An inside perspective on 25 years of change in the business side of coaching college basketball will be the theme of a lecture Feb. 6 at the University of Illinois.
Robert Ades, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who represents more than 20 professional and collegiate basketball coaches, will speak at 3 p.m. in Room 407 of the Levis Faculty Center, 919 W. Illinois St., Urbana. The event is free and open to the public, and will be followed at 4 p.m. with a reception.
The lecture is titled “This is the Business We Have Chosen: The Business of Coaching Collegiate Basketball, 1976-2001.”
According to Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, chair of the UI kinesiology department, Ades has had extensive experience negotiating salaries, marketing agreements, and equipment and shoe contracts, as well as other dealings in both the NBA and NCAA Division I basketball.
Describing Ades as “a fascinating and colorful personality,” Chodzko-Zajko said the lawyer would share his opinions about changes he has observed in the business of basketball during his career.
Among the coaches represented by Ades are Jeff Van Gundy, New York Knicks; Don Casey, New Jersey Nets; Steve Fisher, San Diego State University; Mike Jarvis, St. JohnÕs University; Jim OÕBrien, Ohio State University; Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University, and Tim Welsh, Providence College.
Ades is the first speaker in a Sport in Contemporary Society Lecture Series, sponsored by the departments of kinesiology and leisure studies, College of Applied Life Studies, and Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.
