CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Coby White Family Foundation is expanding its commitment to community impact with the launch of a new scholarship program designed to support Black and Brown students pursuing higher education across North Carolina.

The initiative will award two $10,000 scholarships annually to incoming college freshmen at East Carolina University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, North Carolina Central University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill or the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The foundation hopes to highlight those students from underrepresented and under-resourced communities. The two scholarships are the Donald Legacy Scholarship, in honor of their late father, which recognizes a young Black or Brown male seeking to leave a lasting impact, and the Lanell and Valerie Empowerment Scholarship, which honors a female student working to overcome adversity and uplift others.

For Coby White, the program is about creating access to opportunities he knows many never receive.

“I just want to give a chance, especially to the Black and Brown community, underprivileged communities,” White said. “It’s tough in those communities that I grew up in. I just wanted to give them equal opportunity and a chance to go to college and pursue their dreams.”

The CWFF scholarship selection process focuses on personal storytelling and alignment with the foundation’s core values, rather than GPA requirements.

“If you’ve been accepted to the college, you’ve already done the hard work,” Tia White said. “There’s a short essay required, and recipients will be determined based on what aligns most with CWFF and who we want to bet on for the future.”

For both siblings, the emphasis on reducing financial stress is critical, particularly for students navigating college without generational support.

“I remember what it was like trying to make sure I could pay for college,” Tia White said. “My parents were not financially stable in that way, and I had to take out loans. If we can take that stress off students, the impact will go far beyond just the scholarship.”

White echoed that perspective, reflecting on how his upbringing in Goldsboro shaped his understanding of opportunity gaps.

“Just me growing up in Goldsboro, seeing my peers and what they had to go through, home life, environments, poverty, I just want to give them a chance to experience college,” he said. “My parents didn’t graduate from college, so my sister was the first in our family. I want to give kids that same opportunity to be first.”

For Coby, being in a position to create that kind of impact still feels surreal.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of this growing up. It almost seems impossible,” he said. “If you would have asked 15 or 16-year-old me if I’d be in the NBA, playing in my home state and having the chance to change lives, I would have looked at you crazy.”

Applications for the scholarship program are open through April 15, 2026. Interested applicants can learn more at https://thecwff.org/scholarship-program.