Just hours after Stephen Curry added a fourth NBA Championship and his first Finals MVP Award to his outstanding resume, his alma mater, Davidson College announced that the Golden State Warriors superstar would have his number raised to the rafters by the school in an August ceremony.
Davidson athletic director Chris Clunie said Friday that Curry’s No. 30 would be the first retired by the school during an August 31 ceremony. As part of the festivities, Curry will be inducted into the Davidson Athletic Hall of Fame and will receive his bachelor’s degree.
“We’re doing it in threes — Steph likes threes, right?” Director of Athletics Chris Clunie said in a news release following the announcement on Friday.
Curry was one semester shy of graduating when he enrolled for the past spring semester. The two-time NBA MVP worked with two members of the Davidson faculty, one at Stanford University and another from the University of California-Santa Cruz to complete his degree.
Curry finished his Bachelor of Art degree, with a major in sociology in May, to join the Davidson College class of 2022, but could not attend the commencement ceremony during the NBA playoffs. He fulfilled a promise to his mother Sonya that he would receive his degree.
Graduating was a requirement for Curry to be honored, as Davidson retires only the number and jerseys of players who complete their degrees. Davidson has previously retired the jerseys of six men’s basketball players, but Curry’s 30 will be the first number to never be worn again at the school.
Curry attended the North Carolina school from 2006-2009 and is considered the best player in Davidson history. He is the school’s all-time leader in points (2,635), 3-pointers, free throws and steals and led the Wildcats to the Elite Eight in 2008, losing to the eventual National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, 59-57, during an unexpected breakout NCAA tournament run.
Curry is the Southern Conference’s all-time leading scorer. He was the Southern Conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2007 and earned the SoCon Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009.
“It’s cool to kind of relive the sights and sounds of school and campus and all that,” Curry said. “This is a long time coming, obviously. Since I left campus it was a goal to finish. Just obviously a sense of accomplishment but a promise I made to my mom and Coach (Bob) McKillop when I left after my junior year. It was pretty special, they had the Fathead (cutout) over on campus in my honor.”
McKillop announced his retirement as the Davidson head coach after 33 seasons.
On Thursday, Curry was unanimously named the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP after his Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics 103-90 for a 4-2 series win.
