As Steph Curry Pursues Another NBA Title, He’s Also Providing Scholarships For Female Athletes At Davidson

As Steph Curry seeks to lead the Golden State Warriors to yet another NBA championship, he’s also working behind the scenes to help female student-athletes at his alma mater Davidson.

In 2021, Steph and Ayesha Curry announced the creation of a scholarship endowment to elevate women’s athletics at Davidson. The Curry Family Women’s Athletics Initiative supports Davidson’s 10 women’s athletics programs. The Currys made the announcement just a few months after Steph called out the NCAA for a lack of parity in women’s sports.

“It’s really awesome,” athletic director Chris Clunie said last week during an interview in his office at Davidson, a North Carolina school of 1,950 students that is the smallest Division 1 program in the nation. “It’s really focused on providing greater equity and access for women’s scholar athletes.”

Clunie added: “We’re actually going to have the first Curry cohort of scholars here this fall, one scholar-athlete from each of our eight women’s sports.” The scholarships, valued at $10,000 each, have not yet been officially handed out, so the recipients are not public yet.

The sports include Cross Country/Track & Field, Basketball, Field Hockey, Soccer, Tennis, Lacrosse, Swimming & Diving and Volleyball. (Cross Country and indoor and outdoor Track & Field are all part of one team, but make up three programs.)

(Full disclosure: my daughter will be attending Davidson beginning in 2023-24 for Track & Field, but is not receiving a Curry scholarship.)

Curry and Under Armour last month announced a new long-term partnership “that could become a lifetime deal if certain revenue targets are met,” per The Athletic. Rolling Stone reported in September the deal was worth “potentially more than $1 billion.”

Curry this month received a large grant of shares in Under Armour worth $75 million. He was also named president of Under Armour’s Curry Brand.

All of Davidson’s athletic teams are SC branded and the men’s and women’s basketball teams receive the same type of Curry sneakers, although the track and field athletes often run in Nike shoes because they are considered of better quality for those events.

In 2018, Curry wrote about how the fight for women’s equality had grown “a little more personal” as he and Ayesha raise two young daughters: Riley, 10, and Ryan, 7, along with their son, Canon, 4.

Since then, Curry has promoted his Underrated Tour for both young men and women, along with brand partnerships that speak to women’s empowerment. In 2022, UConn women’s basketball star Azzi Fudd became the first athlete to join Curry’s brand company, SC30.

The Currys also have their Eat. Learn. Play Foundation, “committed to unlocking the amazing potential of every child by fighting to end childhood hunger, ensuring students have access to a quality education, and providing safe places for all children to play and be active.”

Curry’s jersey sells for $100 in the Davidson book store and Clunie said 50% of the profits go to Eat. Learn. Play., while 25% goes to the men’s basketball program and 25% to the women’s.

“He’s super big on creating greater equity and always has the women’s side in mind,”Clunie said.

Curry led Davidson to the NCAA Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament in 2008, but the school said in 2021 it trails its Atlantic 10 competitors in women’s athletics scholarships. The college has the equivalent of 24.96 scholarships across all women’s teams, with a fully 15 committed to women’s basketball. The NCAA maximum for these programs is 105. The Currys’ initiative, with gifts from others, will move the school forward in this regard. More than 200 female scholar-athletes represent the Wildcats in competition. Since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, Davidson has won nine regular season and 20 conference tournament titles in women’s sports.

“As a father of two girls, I want them to grow up knowing there are no limitations around what they can accomplish,” Curry said in 2021. “I encourage Davidson alums, families and friends to join us as we create more equitable funding across all Wildcat athletics programs. The hope is that our contributions, together, will foster an unbiased, more equitable society that leads to a better world.”

Clunie said Davidson alums and supporters can also contribute to the Curry Scholarship Endowment “and then the number continues to rise up.” He said the value of the individual scholarships may also “jump” to $12,000 or so next year, and the money could be spread around to additional Davidson female athletes, depending on what the coaches decide.

“It’s not just going to benefit eight [people], it’s going to have more of an impact as the endowment grows and grows,” Clunie said.

“And it isn’t just the scholarship, they’re also going to connect with SC30 brands and companies and partners. They’re going to get paired up to do mentoring with female CEOs and business executives. Once they figure out what they want to major in, SC30 will help connect them with people in non-profit or business or in the legal space, etc. Stephen’s going to do Zooms with them throughout the year.”

Curry scored 36 points to lead the defending NBA champion Warriors to a 114-97 victory over the Sacramento Kings in Game 3 of their first-round series Thursday night and now trail the series 2-1.

“People became [Warriors] fans because of Stephen,” Clunie said of the Davidson community. “As soon as he got drafted, they stay up late now and watch 10:30 Eastern time games.

“People who never watch the NBA anymore have been Warriors fans ever since 2009.”

DAVIDSON TO SHOW CURRY DOCUMENTARY ‘UNDERRATED’

On April 24, Davidson will host a special on-campus screening of the soon-to-be-released Stephen Curry documentary film, Underrated. This AppleTV+ film debuts July 21 and was directed by award-winner Peter Nicks and produced by The Black Panther writer Ryan Coogler. It debuted at The Sundance Film Festival in January and aired at the San Francisco Film Festival. Davidson is the only other venue that will debut the film before it is released nationally.

Some 450 student tickets were made available and reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Another 150 faculty, faculty emeriti, and staff tickets were also made available. The men’s and women’s basketball teams will both attend.

“It is like a true love letter to Davidson,” Clunie said.