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Dame and PSU are working together to help students from Dame’s home town
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Make no mistake: Even after being traded from the Trail Blazers, Dame truly loves Portland.
In news that further confirms that fact, Damian Lillard is partnering with Portland State University to fund a scholarship to help students from Dame’s home town attend college, according to the university.
The Damian Lillard Scholars Program – which will provide students from East Bay California high schools with $25k per year in tuition – has already admitted 15 students for the 2025-26 academic year. Six of those students went to Lillard’s alma mater, Oakland High School.
Students selected for the program will also receive additional financial support for non-tuition expenses like housing, food, clothing, transportation, and textbooks.
“I’m so happy this scholarship has come to fruition. Students from my community in the East Bay now have an opportunity to pursue a college education in my adopted community of Portland without financial burdens. My hope is that this scholarship becomes a stepping stone to a bright and promising future,” Lillard said.
Lillard still owns a home and lives at least part of the year in the Portland area, as he told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in August:
“The biggest thing is, I still live here [in Portland],” he said. “Obviously being traded and being in Milwaukee; I’ve told a lot of people I love the organization in Milwaukee, I love the opportunity that it is, but I think anytime you build something the way I’ve built out my life here, you establish roots and you establish all these connections and bonds with people. That, I make sure I never lose touch with those things.”
Lillard also heads The Lillard Foundation that “empowers Oregon’s youth by providing meaningful opportunities across academics, athletics, and community support,” and remains an owner of Damian Lillard Toyota in McMinnville, about an hour outside Portland.
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