UNC alumnus and former Tar Heel basketball player Sasha Seymore has been selected as part of the first ever Knight-Hennessy Scholar cohort, a prestigious scholarship that fully funds graduate-level work in any field at Stanford University.

Seymour will use the scholarship to pursue his Master in Business Administration degree and further his studies in uniting communities through sports.

“I’m incredibly honored to have been selected as a member of the inaugural class of Knight-Hennessy scholars,” Seymore said in a release. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity, and I’m so excited to study at Stanford – a place that thrives on new ideas and innovation and to help shape the future of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program. I’ve been blessed with so many wonderful friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and professors from the Carolina family who helped me get here, and I can’t say enough about how thankful I am for them and the opportunities I had during my time at Carolina. I’m pumped to move out west for a few years, but my heart and my home will always be in North Carolina.”

During his time at UNC, Seymour was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and member of Honors Carolina and Phi Beta Kappa. He earned the Turner Young Scholarship and Dixon Scholarship, and served as president for the class of 2015. Seymour also earned a walk-on spot on the UNC Basketball team his senior year.

“At Carolina, Sasha was an inspirational student leader, accomplished athlete and young scholar who dedicated himself to the Carolina Community and service to others well beyond our low stone walls,” said Chancellor Carol L. Folt. “It is wonderful to see Sasha selected for the inaugural year of this scholarship program. I have no doubt this opportunity will help him achieve his aspiration of building an organization dedicated to using the power of sport to unite divided communities.”

The Kight-Hennessy Scholarship is named after Stanford Alumnus and co-founder of Nike Phillip Knight and Stanford’s tenth president John L. Hennessy. With a $750 million endowment, the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program is the largest fully endowed scholarship program in the world.

Photo via UNC