NBA Star Pledges $12M For Alma Mater To Help Low-Income Students

GREENWICH, CT — A National Basketball Association star is using his good fortune to help others who are following in his footsteps.

Donovan Mitchell, the NBA all-star from the Utah Jazz, and his family have pledged $12 million to help Greenwich Country Day School, where Mitchell graduated from ninth grade in 2012. The gift is the largest in school history, according to a news release from the school.

Much of the money will be used to help students from low-income backgrounds afford to attend the nursery through 12 private school through the newly created Mitchell Family Scholarship Fund.

"Man this means so much to me," Mitchell tweeted after the school announced the donation. "Not just building a brand new gym but giving scholarships to less fortunate kids who normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to attend private school."

The scholarship fund will help the school "remain a leader in providing need-based aid for students," GCDS said.

The gift will also help build the "Determination Over Negativity Mitchell Family Athletic Center" that will include a state-of-the-art gymnasium with an NCAA regulation court and stands on both sides, according to the release.

“I know how lucky I have been to have the foundation of my education happen here at Country Day," Mitchell said. "This school has shaped who I am in so many ways, and I feel blessed to be able to give back and make the Country Day experience available for more kids especially those from inner-city neighborhoods or with backgrounds like mine.”

GCDS Head of School Adam Rohdie said Mitchell is "a man of the highest character."

"He has lived his life embodying the Country Day creed of 'Tiger Pride,' which asks our students to be kind, empathetic, respectful, thoughtful and to act with the highest levels of integrity.”

Another award, named in honor of Mitchell's mother, Nicole, will be awarded to a teacher at the start of every school year. Nicole Mitchell was a lower elementary school teacher at GCSC for several years.

Mitchell's pledge comes just weeks after he agreed with the Jazz on a $195 million contract extension for five years.

In just three years in the NBA, all with the Jazz, Mitchell has already won an NBA slam dunk title, was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2017-2018 and made the NBA All-Star Game in 2019-2020.