From thesiac.com:
ATLANTA, GA– The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Foundation has pledged a significant financial grant to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) to provide scholarship resources to SIAC member-institution basketball student-athletes to facilitate a path to graduation objectives. This program, in addition to a similar initiative at Norfolk State University, is part of an NBPA pilot project to support student-athletes at colleges and universities around the country.
“We are extremely grateful to NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts and Sherrie Deans, who leads the NBPA foundation for their financial commitment to SIAC HBCU institutions,” said SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore. “These resources provide much needed scholarship support for those student-athletes who seek to complete their academic studies in a timely fashion.”
Thirty-five student-athletes were selected to receive the grant based on their academic accolades, which provided them assistance in mitigating the cost of summer school classes.
The SIAC has provided critically important “first-chances” to many former NBA players in recent years. Former NBA star Darrell Walker began his coaching career at Clark Atlanta University, leading CAU to back-to-back NCAA Division II tournament appearances before landing a position at Division I at Arkansas Little Rock. George Lynch, who succeeded Coach Walker at CAU, and former NBA lottery pick Jarvis Hayes, now assistant coach at Morehouse College, were both hired as coaches within the Atlanta University Center (AUC). In addition, former Nets All-Star point guard, Kenny Anderson, was recently named the head basketball coach at Fisk University whose student-athletes also participated in the NBPA HBCU Top 50 Camp this past summer. In only its third year, the camp attracted NBA scouts and player personnel staff from teams such as the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
About the NBPA Foundation
Established in 1997, The National Basketball Players Association Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of its members and providing support and assistance to persons, communities and organizations throughout the world that seek to improve the lives of those in need. Through grants that match players’ philanthropy and charitable giving, the Foundation highlights and accelerates the real and collaborative work that basketball players do worldwide to build their communities and create meaningful change.
About the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 13 member institutions (Albany State University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Paine College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous six-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors seven men’s and six women’s sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit www.thesiac.com.
