The family of former Carrboro High School girls’ basketball coach and teacher Sheremy Dillard is setting up a memorial fund in her honor. Dillard was found stabbed to death in her Raleigh home Aug. 13. Her boyfriend, 60-year-old Rickey Harper, has since been charged with murder.

Dillard had coached at Carrboro High from the time the school opened in 2007 until 2024, when she left to take a position in Wake County. She was named the Northern Lakes Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading Carrboro to a 12-2 league record. Prior to her coaching career, Dillard played basketball at Hillside High School in Durham and then did so collegiately at North Carolina Central University. After graduating from NCCU, Dillard returned to Hillside as an assistant coach, helping lead the Hornets to a state title in 1996.

The memorial fund, officially known as The Coach Sheremy G. Dillard Scholarship Fund, was established by Dillard’s brother Bernard and hopes to raise $10,000. On the scholarship’s GoFundMe page, Bernard Dillard laid out three criteria for the first recipient of the permanent, annual award. The recipient must be:

  • A graduating female senior from Hillside High School, who
  • Plans to attend a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), and who is
  • Majoring in Physical Education to pursue a lifelong career in coaching and teaching

The fund has been established in direct partnership with the non-profit Durham Public Schools Foundation. All funds raised through the GoFundMe will be transferred to the DPS Foundation in order to launch the scholarship.

In a statement, Bernard Dillard said Sheremy “was a bright light in our lives, a passionate educator, and someone who dedicated her life to inspiring others through teaching and coaching.”

“We want to turn our immense grief into a lasting, positive legacy for the Durham community that she loved to dearly,” Bernard said. “This fund will directly pave the way for future generations of young leaders to follow in her footsteps.”

 

Featured image via Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

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