Endowed Scholarship Fund - BASKETBALL

JOHN C. MITCHELL '69
BASKETBALL SCHOLARSHIP
Represented by Mr. John C. Mitchell '69 of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
 

John Mitchell '69
 

The John C. Mitchell '69 Basketball Scholarship was established in 2004 by Mr. Mitchell.

The scholarship is granted to a basketball athlete who exemplifies spirit, determination and a commit-ment

Mitchell matriculated at VMI from Sheridan, Indiana, and graduated as a Distinguished Academic Student with the Class of 1969, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. As a cadet, Mitchell was a member of the Honor Court, Pioneer Investment Club and vice president of the Monogram Club. He also participated in Rat Basketball and Rat Cross Country, but his exceptional athletic abilities became evident when he became a member of the VMI Varsity Basketball Team. 

In 1968, Mitchell led the VMI basketball team in scoring, with a 16.1 point average. As a first class-man, he scored 22.2 points per game and was nationally ranked for free throw accuracy. His three-year free throw percentage of 86.6 percent was a Southern Conference record in 1969, and it remains as the highest free-throw percentage at VMI and the second highest percentage in Southern Conference history.

He holds the 5th spot in scoring averages at VMI, at 17.7 points. He is tied with Bill Blair ’64 and Charlie Schmaus ’66 at 7th place for 20+ point scoring games (27), 9th place for 30+ scoring games (4), and 8th place for consecutive double-figure games at VMI.

Following his senior season, Mitchell was named to the Academic All America (second team) and received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. All of this success earned Mitchell his place in the VMI Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.

After VMI, Mitchell served two years in the U.S. Army, Air Defense Artillery (1st Lieuten-ant), and received the Army Commendation Medal. He continued his education by earning an MBA and JD from Indiana University.

Mitchell was president of Planters Lifesavers Company, Nabisco Brands, before moving to Lexmark International Corp-oration, where he was president of the Business Printer Division and vice pres-ident of the corporation. He retired from Lexmark in 2000.

Mitchell is married to the former Marie Elizabeth Bruland. They have one daughter, Allison.

Cadet Quinn T. Brownfield '11 is recognized in the name of
the John C. Mitchell '69 Basketball Scholarship
for the 2007-08 school year.