The Mitchell Hill Memorial Scholarship Foundation will host the first annual New School / Old School fundraiser basketball games on Saturday, June 24 at LaGrange High School. The games will start at 6 pm, and will include performances from the LHS Grangerettes and the Tru Dazzling Diamonds. The evening will conclude with three $1,000 scholarships being presented to one student-athlete from LaGrange, Callaway and Troup High Schools.

The scholarship foundation was set up in memory of Mitchell Hill, longtime LaGrange resident who passed away July 9, 2016. Hill was an avid contributor and believer in the importance of youth sports, and coached AAU basketball in the community for a number of years. Hill’s late wife, Kay, had pondered the idea of starting a scholarship in his honor for some time, but became serious about the endeavor in January of this year.

“In January, I put my mind to it,” Kay Hill said. “I wanted it to have credibility, I wanted to set it up at a 501(c)(3). I read and read and learned how to do it. We have a tax ID number, bank account and BB&T. I took $100 out of my pocket to start the account with. The Mitchell Hill Memorial Scholarship Fund.”

Originally, Hill’s mission was to set up a single $1,000 scholarship for one student athlete from the Troup County area. However, once Hill had the proper paperwork in place and had created the foundation, she began to receive donations that helped widen the possibilities for what the foundation could realistically accomplish.

“We got great support financially from the LaGrange Housing Authority and the state AAU board,” Hill said. “Those, along with a number of others allowed us to do three scholarships instead of just one.”

The scholarships will be handed out to student-athletes from the three schools who embody Mitchell Hill’s coaching philosophy. The event on June 24 will feature basketball games between Mitchell Hill’s AAU team, the LaGrange Wolverines, and local rival Roanoke Mustangs. The second matchup will be feature a combination of LaGrange and Troup County alumni as well, a large portion of whom played under Hill’s watch.