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Atlanta Hawks Honor Basketball Great Grant Hill With 33 HBCU Scholarships

Atlanta Hawks Honor Basketball Great Grant Hill With 33 HBCU Scholarships

Written by Ann Brown

Sep 15, 2018

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Grant hill
(Photo: AP)

 

Basketball star Grant Hill, now an Atlanta Hawks pro basketball team co-owner and executive, was recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Hawks decided to award scholarships in Hill’s name to three historically Black colleges and universities in Atlanta.

The Hawks are honoring Hill’s upcoming induction by funding 33 scholarships for students at Spelman College, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. Hill became a co-owner of the Hawks in 2015. Vice chairman and part owner of the Hawks, Hill wore uniform No. 33 throughout his 19-year NBA career.

“It is an honor and privilege to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, perhaps the greatest accomplishment of my life,” said Hill. “Yet, learning that the Atlanta Hawks have created scholarships in my name for 33 students matriculating at the AUC (Atlanta University Center) member institutions is the most humbling gift and the highest distinction that I can receive.”

Each school will receive 11 financial aid packages.

“If there were a person hall of fame, Grant would be at the top of it,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said. “Grant is a philanthropist. Grant is a leader…This university complex will have a small part of Grant and, hopefully, one day, the students who benefit will develop into leaders and people reminiscent of Grant’s character.”

The announcement of the scholarships was made during a recent ceremony on the Spelman campus.

This will be a major financial help for cash-strapped students. While attending one of these schools is below the national average, it is still expensive for many. It costs just over $38,000 to attend Clark Atlanta and nearly $43,000 for Spelman. Morehouse tuition slightly less than both.

Hill’s passion for the arts and education aligns with Spelman’s mission to educate the whole student through a dynamic liberal arts experience,” said Spelman president Mary Schmidt Campbell. “We appreciate the Atlanta Hawks recognizing his athletic excellence and his commitment to HBCUs by supporting students at Spelman, Morehouse and Clark Atlanta.”

This isn’t the first time the Atlanta Hawks have helped college students.

In 2011, the Atlanta Hawks supported the Morehouse journalism program when it was founded. In 2017, the Hawks held a Black History Month event on Morehouse’s campus that was open to the entire AUC with a panel discussion with Sekou Smith, Malcolm Delaney and Claude Johnson, the Undefeated reported.

 

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