Friends, family and teammates of Jaden Smith, a 17-year-old Ann Sobrato High School student-athlete who died in March, have launched a memorial scholarship fund to honor his legacy and support future generations of Morgan Hill student athletes.
Smith, an 11th-grade varsity basketball player and youth coach, died March 14 in a traffic accident. In the weeks that followed, classmates, teammates, parents and teachers united behind a plan to forge a lasting legacy befitting their fallen star.
“We had our friends come together and really want to do something to create this lasting legacy for Jaden,” said Jenny Smith, his mother. “It was really a culmination of our community, the parents, and Jaden’s best friends and basketball teammates.”
The Jaden Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund is targeting a $40,000 fundraising goal, with plans to award $10,000 each to four qualifying student athletes from Ann Sobrato High School and Live Oak High School. Applicants must have a GPA of at least 3.0 and submit a short essay. The scholarship program will accept donations through the end of March 2027, with student applications opening near the end of 2026.
Jenny Smith said the outpouring of community support has been overwhelming, spreading across the Morgan Hill Unified School District and beyond.
“The parents have really spearheaded getting this together,” she said. “It’s been amazing, we’re just so overwhelmed with all of the love and support of the entire community. My son went to Sobrato, and they sent it out to the entire school district in Morgan Hill. My daughter goes to Charter, and it was also sent out to that community.”
Jenny Smith said her son was a devout friend and teammate whose bonds forged on the basketball court stretched back to elementary school. Jaden and his closest friends played together through South Valley Basketball Academy, known locally as SCBA, eventually carrying that brotherhood to Sobrato’s varsity program.
“I really want to highlight his group of friends,” his mother said. “He and his friends have been playing basketball together since elementary school, and they have been best friends since then. They all grew up together, they did SCBA together here in town. They stuck together through junior high and on to high school.”
Smith also spent the last two summers coaching youth players through SVBA at Britton Middle School under the tutelage of coach Jim Green, who remembers him as a standout mentor.
“Jaden was an extremely responsible and age-appropriate camp coach,” Green said. “He was always punctual and was open to any task assigned to him. He had a great rapport with the young basketball campers and was very comfortable interacting with fellow camp coaches. His absence at this summer camp will sadly be on all of our minds this summer.”
Teachers at Sobrato remembered Smith’s impact reaching well beyond the gymnasium. Rachel Mabey, his English teacher, described him as a student who made her a better educator.
“Jaden was one of those students you knew you would remember long after the school year ended,” Mabey said. “He was the first to volunteer for class discussions or to crack a joke to bring light and laughter to the conversation.”
Mabey recalled one particular moment that illustrated his character: when a new student transferred into her class mid-year, Smith was the first to welcome him before she even had the chance to step in.
“That first ‘welcome to class’ grew into a great friendship,” she said. “He was a natural leader who supported his peers with kindness and good humor. He was the kind of friend I wish for each of my students.”
Math teacher Brett McNulty said Jaden represented the kind of hard-working drive and commitment that inspired other students to follow his example.
“Our schools often talk about words like grit and responsibility but Jayden actually took these on, he demonstrated those characteristics daily,” McNulty said. “He wasn’t looking to be the center of attention or praise. He just did what was expected, he showed up when friends needed, he showed up when teachers needed and through this scholarship he can show up ,yet again, when others are in need.”
Organizers are also exploring the possibility of hosting a memorial basketball tournament to help raise additional scholarship funds, though plans have not yet been finalized.
Jenny Smith said the scholarship reflects what her son stood for: uplifting the people around him.
“His lasting legacy is he was always positive, bringing people together, uplifting people.” she said. “The story here is really the love and the support of the community. Everybody holding us up in this community has just been overwhelming.”
Donations can be made at bold.org/funds/jaden-smith-memorial-scholarship-fund.
