HONOLULU -- Punahou graduate Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month.

Obama is running for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in Illinois. If he wins, he will become the third black U.S. senator in the last 100 years.

His leading Republican opponent recently had to withdraw from the race because of a sex scandal. Football legend Mike Ditka was considering running, but late Wednesday announced he will not.

He will speak at the DNC on July 27.

Obama's mother and father met at the University of Hawaii. His father is African, from Kenya, and his mother is white. When Obama was 2 years old, his father left the family and returned to Kenya.

Obama was born in Hawaii and attended Punahou School. He played on the state champion Punahou basketball team in 1979.

His Punahou classmates remember him as a good guy. They never suspected he might one day run for the U.S. Senate.

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"What I remember about him most, is a guy that's fun to hang out with, a good friend, a guy that likes to do practical jokes, a heck of an athlete and obviously a good scholar," classmate John Kamana said.

Obama returns to Hawaii each December. His grandmother and sister live in the islands.