CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The University of Illinois says former Illini basketball player and Harlem Globetrotters owner Mannie Jackson is donating $3 million to build a basketball hall of fame in the State Farm Center.
Athletic Director Mike Thomas said Wednesday that the hall of fame in the soon-to-be renovated State Farm Center will named after Jackson.
Officials say the hall of fame will include Illini basketball memorabilia.
Jackson and teammate Governor Vaughn became the first black players to letter and start for the Illini during the 1957-58 season.
Jackson was later an executive with Honeywell International, Inc. before buying the Globetrotters.
He donated $2 million in 2008 to the university’s College of Applied Health Sciences.
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