MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Name it a slam dunk: West Virginia College is scoring new alternatives for college kids to pursue and full their levels with a $5 million reward honoring late Mountaineer nice Jerry West.
Steve Ballmer, chairman of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, and his spouse, Connie, made the reward as a tribute to West following his passing on June 12, 2024. The announcement coincides with Jerry West Day, a celebration of West’s reminiscence and legacy on the WVU males’s basketball sport Saturday (Jan. 18) versus Iowa State.
Half of the Ballmer household’s reward establishes a brand new fund in West’s identify to assist completion grants, which give financial help for WVU college students liable to leaving the College as a result of monetary challenges. The aim is to encourage college students to stay in class and full their levels.
The remaining funds will bolster the Jerry West Scholarship, which fits to undergraduate college students from West Virginia with demonstrated monetary want. First awarded in 1971, the scholarship has enabled generations of Mountain State natives to graduate from WVU.
“This beneficiant reward from Steve and Connie Ballmer ensures that future generations of West Virginia College college students can have the chance to discover their passions, uncover their goal and obtain their very own success, simply as Jerry West did,” WVU President Gordon Gee stated. “It not solely preserves a outstanding legacy however can even empower the subsequent wave of leaders to chart their very own paths, grounded within the values of dedication, excellence and repair that West exemplified all through his life.”
West and his spouse, Karen, contributed generously to the College throughout his lifetime, supporting scholarships, athletics, lecturers, well being care and extra to profit his dwelling state and its residents. He additionally shared his experience to profit WVU, providing recommendation and counsel to athletics management as wanted.
“I’ve little doubt Jerry West can be thrilled by this significant reward to his alma mater,” Cindi Roth, president and CEO of the WVU Basis, stated. “His mind, power and character have been outlined by his West Virginia roots, and he was deeply dedicated to creating alternatives for Mountaineers to succeed. We admire this considerate reward from the Ballmer household to construct upon Jerry West’s legacy at WVU.”
Often known as “The Brand” for uplifting the long-lasting silhouette of the NBA emblem, West is universally considered one in all basketball’s all-time greats. Final fall, he turned the primary three-time inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame – as a participant, govt and contributor.
West cultivated his basketball abilities rising up in Chelyan, a small city in Kanawha County, and led the Mountaineers to historic success within the Nineteen Fifties. WVU received 81 of 93 video games whereas West was within the lineup and got here inside two factors of profitable a nationwide championship in 1959.
Taken within the first spherical of the 1960 NBA draft by the Lakers (No. 2 general), West spent 14 seasons in Los Angeles and racked up nearly each league honor earlier than he retired in 1974. Following his enjoying profession, he excelled as one of many NBA’s prime executives. He served as normal supervisor and president of the Lakers, serving to them to earn six NBA titles over 18 years, and normal supervisor of the Memphis Grizzlies.
“Jerry West’s legacy will dwell on within the hearts of West Virginians without end, and it is beneficiant items like this from Steve and Connie Ballmer that won’t solely honor Jerry however contact the lives of WVU college students for years to come back,” WVU Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker stated. “Within the instances that I bought to talk with Jerry, I shortly realized why he was so revered and revered across the nation. A lot appreciation goes to the Ballmers, not just for this reward, however for his or her friendship with Jerry and in serving to WVU protect his legacy.”
Submit-retirement, West offered pivotal steering to the Golden State Warriors and later the LA Clippers as a marketing consultant and govt board member. His work with the Clippers started in 2017 and continued till his dying.
Ballmer bought the LA Clippers in 2014, after retiring as CEO of Microsoft. He has described West as “a confidant, an advisor and a good friend” who enriched his life personally and professionally.
“Once we talked about this reward, we needed to deal with these college students who want a bit further help in class due to difficulties they’ve skilled in life,” Steve Ballmer stated. “This made a lot sense to me as a result of it bought to Jerry’s actual spirit of wanting to assist these individuals who could not have been blessed in the identical means he was.”
Collectively, Steve and Connie co-founded Ballmer Group Philanthropy, which funds organizations and leaders to develop financial alternative and cut back systemic inequities in America.
The Ballmer reward was made by way of the WVU Basis, the nonprofit group that receives and administers personal donations on behalf of the College.
