BY John Dunn
Alumnus John Salley, who has progressed from being a college all-star and four-time world champion basketball player to entertainer and motivational speaker, told Georgia Tech black alumni, "We've got to move with the world or move faster."
Salley, Mgt 88, spoke at an Oct. 27 breakfast meeting of combined Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization and Georgia Tech Hispanic Network members as part of Homecoming activities. The theme for the Black Alumni Organization was "Making a Difference, Making an Impact."
In a talk punctuated with humor, Salley became serious when he spoke of the need to change.
"If we don't change the way we do things, if we don't stop thinking in the old ways, if we don't move forward, if we don't change before we have to," Salley said, "you're going to sit around and wonder what happened, what went by you."
Salley visited Hurricane Katrina survivors last year. "It made me mad. They didn't want to change."
Salley was the keynote speaker at the event attended by more than 200 people that also featured Cleve Warren, president and chief executive officer of the Jacksonville Economic Development Co.; Juan A. Michelena, ME 62, retired chairman of Mantex; and Dorothy Yancy, president of Johnson C. Smith University. Michelena of Key Biscayne, Fla., and Clarence W. Robie, IM 75, president of B&S Electrical of Atlanta, were presented the first Business Innovation Awards.
Also on Oct. 27, a seminar was held at the Global Learning Center featuring Birdel F. Jackson III, MS CE 74, president of B&E Jackson and Associates; Linda Jordan, EE 85, MS EE 86, vice president, Mesirow Financial; Guiomar Obregon, MS CE 93, MS Mgt 94, vice president, Precision 2000; and Al Trujillo, AE 81, president and CEO, Recall.
In September Salley, who said he doesn't watch basketball, was named commissioner of the American Basketball Association at the annual owners meeting. A reincarnation of the original ABA that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976, the league has more than 40 franchises from such diverse markets as Beijing and Maywood, Calif. Many of the teams have struggled financially, something Salley has said he will reverse.
Salley, who was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991 and saw his No. 22 jersey retired, played basketball for the Yellow Jackets from 1982 to 1986. He was picked in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons and played 12 years for five NBA teams — winning four championship rings.
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