$25 million move from longtime Broncos faithful puts Ashton Jeanty’s Boise State in history books
The Boise State football team has received a $25 million donation from a family that has been supporting the Broncos for generations, BSU announced on Thursday. The donation, which comes from the estate of Allen T. and Billie Dee Noble, is the biggest one-time monetary offering for a college football team in history.
As per reports, the family of the late Boise couple made a major donation worth $50 million to two local "blue" institutions. The grant was for St. Luke’s Health System and Boise State University Athletics to each receive $25 million.
Allen, who was born in Idaho Falls in 1928, left his potato farming job to invent equipment that helped irrigate fields with self-propelled machinery. He then founded the company Micron Technology in the late 1970s, which is now worth $115.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Allen and Billie married in 1965. The couple had seven children.
Billie died in 2017 and at the time of Allen's death in 2021, they had 22 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Noble family announced that it was pleased to offer Boise State Athletics and St. Luke's Health Foundation the donations.
“Today, we are pleased and honored to announce the gifts from the estate of Allen T. and Billie Dee Noble of $25 million to Boise State football and $25 million to the St. Luke’s Health Foundation,” the Noble family wrote in a statement. “The family is excited to see the impact that these contributions can have on the future of these two programs.”
Boise State's superstar RB Ashton Jeanty is in the running for Heisman Trophy this season
The No. 15-ranked Boise State Broncos (6-1, 3-1 Mountain West Conference) have been one of the best teams this season and their standout player Ashton Jeanty is a contender to win the Heisman Trophy.
In seven games, Jeanty has racked up 1,376 yards on 159 carries and rushed for 18 touchdowns. He has also added 50 receiving yards on 12 receptions and caught one touchdown through the air.
No Broncos player has ever won the Heisman, but Jeanty will aim to continue his strong run for the remainder of the season, to give himself the best chance of winning the coveted college football honor.
The Broncos will also have one eye on making the College Football Playoff.