Missouri’s Aidan Shaw Scholarship Fund Selects First Recipients
Missouri Basketball’s Aidan Shaw gives out four scholarships to incoming Tigers from his personal NIL earnings
Consistent doomsday headlines about NIL would lead you to think that the sky is falling in college sports. To a reasonable degree, there is a lot of instability, and the future of commercialized amateur sports is filled with question marks. However, often lost in this fearmongering is how the new landscape of college sports empowers athletes in ways previously blocked by NCAA regulation. In the case of Missouri’s Aidan Shaw, he uses this empowerment to usher positive change in his home community. The Tiger’s sophomore forward is giving back using his personal NIL earnings to provide scholarships for multiple graduating seniors from the greater Kansas City area.
Shaw, a former four-star recruit out of Stillwell, Kansas, has consistently contributed to the Tiger basketball program, appearing in every contest and averaging 16 minutes during the 2023-24 campaign. Away from the court, Shaw cares deeply about his academics. His work ethic in the classroom has not gone unnoticed, as he has been honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches for his excellence in academics.
While it is one thing to care about personal academic achievement, Shaw has gone the extra mile, putting his funds toward advancing deserving students who share a similar dedication to education and community involvement. In conversation with Shaw, he described the impetus for this program, “I wanted to invest in young people… value is grown in people, not things. Everybody has dreams but not opportunities, and I feel like I can assist, even a little, in our future CEOs, educators, etc.”
The four scholarships range from $1,000 to $2,000. Incoming Missouri students needed a minimum high school GPA of 3.5 and active community involvement to be considered for the scholarships. Once those prerequisites were met, Shaw made his ultimate determination based on a letter of recommendation and personal statement. The current students being honored will enroll this fall at Missouri, Peru State, University of Chicago, and Emporia State.
Moving beyond this inaugural recipient class, Shaw intends to grow his philanthropy: “I would love for this to be a movement versus a moment.” Given the positive reception of his program, Shaw is in the process of creating a foundation to enable greater opportunities for incoming Missouri students in the future. More information is available on his website for anyone who would like to help support his mission.
