First Grant Hill led the basketball program to its only two national championships; now he is helping the team take the first step to fulfilling its dream of fully endowing every scholarship on the team.
At a press conference this afternoon, Hill and his wife Tamia will announce a $1 million donation to the Basketball Legacy Fund, a fund-raising organization that Hill has agreed to chair.
"I've been very fortunate to know Grant Hill for a long time," athletic director Joe Alleva said yesterday. "In this day and age of professional athletes, it is so wonderful to see two people as genuine as Grant and his wife Tamia. They are tremendous people and this is a tremendous gift. It really shows what kind of role models they are for society."
Hill, who recently signed with the Magic in his hometown of Orlando, is making his second donation to Duke since graduating in 1994. After giving $100,000 to the Divinity School two years ago to honor his father Calvin, a member of the school's Board of Visitors, Hill will now enable the basketball program to fully endow one scholarship.
The principal $1 million donated by Hill will be invested and never withdrawn, as the profits reaped annually will provide more than enough capital to cover the cost of a basketball scholarship.
"We are glad to be able to support Duke basketball players as they pursue an education at a great university and play in a great college program," the Hills said in a statement. "We hope others will join us in that support because that is how such places and programs are sustained."
As chairman of the Basketball Legacy Fund, Hill's primary obligation will be to entice former Duke athletes to follow his lead and donate to the basketball program. Every member of past Final Four teams has already been solicited for contributions.
Twelve other members of the Basketball Legacy Fund have already donated $1 million or more, but Hill is the first professional athlete to donate that substantial an amount to his alma mater.
"While we have had major donors who were athletes at Duke, this is a major donor who made his wealth from his professional athletics career and that's a first for us," director of athletic development Susan Ross said. "We hope that Grant's gift will serve as a model for other former Duke stars who are pro athletes."
The athletic department is optimistic that famous and not-so-well-known graduates alike will do their part as the basketball program searches for other donors. The athletic department hopes to reach its $249 million target by 2003. If successful, the basketball team would be able to fully endow the remaining 12 scholarships on the team.
In order to accomplish this goal, the athletic department hopes to convince former players that they should feel an obligation to preserve a program that rewarded them with some of the best memories of their life. With Hill, however, that was no tough sale. The three-time All-American and five-time NBA All-Star instead took it upon himself to see that tomorrow's athletes have the same opportunities he had in the early 1990s.
"It says how much he appreciates the values and experiences that he had here with the basketball program and how he wants others to also experience what he had," Alleva said. "That is what he is really doing: giving back so kids in the future can share the same experiences he has had."
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