He helped Duke basketball win first NCAA title in 1991. Now he’ll be the graduation speaker
As Duke men’s basketball chases an NCAA Tournament championship, a player who was part of the program’s first two national championships will address the school’s next graduating class.
During a video presentation Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as the Blue Devils were hammering Wake Forest, 93-60, Duke president Vince Price announced Grant Hill would be the Class of 2025’s commencement speaker on May 11.
“I am thrilled that Grant Hill will address the Class of 2025 in May,” Price said in a statement. “He is an extraordinary leader who has excelled in athletics, broadcasting and business. I’m confident that his perspectives and insights will inspire and motivate our graduates as they celebrate their achievements at Duke and embark on the next phase of their lives.”
During his first two seasons playing for Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, Hill helped the Blue Devils win the 1991 and 1992 NCAA championships. Those were the first of Duke’s five NCAA basketball titles. Hill and Krzyzewski nearly won a third together, but Duke lost, 76-72, to Arkansas in the 1994 NCAA Tournament final at Charlotte.
Since then, Hill played 18 NBA seasons, making seven All-Star teams, before being elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
A three-time all-American, his uniform No. 33 is retired in Cameron Indoor Stadium’s rafters.
“Class of 2025, I can’t wait to be with you, in May, at commencement,” Hill said in the video, which included him sinking a jump shot at Cameron and saying “I’ve still got it!”
His off-the court career includes founding a successful real-estate investment company, Hill Ventures, as well as co-owner and vice chairman of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Hill is also in the midst of a broadcasting career with Turner Sports and CBS in which he calls NCAA Tournament games each year.
Hill joined Duke’s Board of Trustees in 2021, the same year he was named USA Basketball’s managing director.
Hill will be Duke’s second basketball-adjacent commencement speaker in the past three years. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed graduates in 2023. Last year, Jerry Seinfeld spoke to the graduating class.