![\"(Christine](\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260914_MylesTurnerDonation-8-1024x683.jpg\")
Milwaukee Bucks player Myles Turner takes photos with attendees during HEB ISD\u2019s board meeting Sept. 14, 2026, in Bedford. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\nA little orange ball has taken Myles Turner around the world.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s bounced him from Bedford to the University of Texas at Austin, through a decade with the Indiana Pacers and now to the Milwaukee Bucks. But Turner told Hurst-Euless-Bedford trustees that basketball has always brought him back to the place he calls home.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomehow I always found myself back in HEB,\u201d Turner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now \u2014 just 12 years after he graduated \u2014 the district where Turner grew up and learned the game will put his name on the arena where another kid could start a journey of their own.<\/p>\n
HEB ISD trustees Sept. 14 approved an agreement naming Trinity High School\u2019s new arena the Myles Turner Fieldhouse. The naming was paired with a pledge from the 2014 Trinity graduate and NBA veteran of up to $2 million for athletics across the district. The vote was 6-0, with trustee Becky Ewart absent.<\/p>\n
Dobie Williams, deputy superintendent of business operations, told the Fort Worth Report the pledge is the largest donation he has seen during his time with HEB ISD.<\/p>\n
\u201cLegacy is something that\u2019s very important to me,\u201d Turner told trustees. \u201cIt\u2019s something I want to carry as I watch the next Myles Turner, the next person in this community, make it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201cnext level\u201d does not necessarily mean professional sports, Turner said. It could mean becoming a doctor, firefighter, police officer or another person who brings community together.<\/p>\n
Mark Villines, Turner\u2019s former Trinity basketball coach who still leads the Trojans today, choked up talking about his former student. He took a pause to compose himself, and told trustees that Turner has remained connected to the community that helped shape him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how far basketball has taken him, he has never forgotten where he came from,\u201d Villines said.<\/p>\n
Turner plans to contribute $100,000 annually for 20 years through the HEB ISD Education Foundation. He intentionally chose a long-term investment instead of giving the full amount at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn’t want it to be just a one-year, $2 million thing because when you can actually depend on that funding year by year, you can start to plan stuff for the future,\u201d Turner told the Report.<\/p>\n
The money will stretch well beyond Trinity.<\/p>\n
Each year, Trinity and L.D. Bell high schools are slated to receive $30,000 each for boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 athletics, and Bedford, Central, Euless, Harwood and Hurst junior highs will each receive $8,000. The district can also combine portions of the money for shared athletic equipment.<\/p>\n
Turner wants students across the district to benefit, particularly at the junior high level, where he began coming into his own as a star athlete, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always going to be biased for Trinity, of course. But equal opportunity, to say the least,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee Bucks player Myles Turner takes photos with attendees during HEB ISD\u2019s board meeting Sept. 14, 2026, in Bedford. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
The $2 million pledge does come with a caveat. Since it is voluntary and not a legally enforceable promise to pay, Turner can modify, suspend or terminate the pledge at any time.<\/p>\n
Turner fully intends to make all 20 payments, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like that\u2019s just kind of lawyer talk and lawyer language,\u201d Turner said, describing the provision as protection for both sides.<\/p>\n
In return, the district granted Turner exclusive naming rights to the arena. HEB ISD will install the Myles Turner Fieldhouse name on the building and commission a relief sculpture of Turner for the arena.<\/p>\n
Renderings shown to trustees depicted Turner\u2019s name above the entrance to the fieldhouse and a display inside traced his path from Trinity to the Texas Longhorns and to the NBA. Students would even be able to stand against a life-size graphic of the 6-foot-11-inch athlete to compare their wingspan with Turner\u2019s, like measuring themselves against an eagle at the zoo.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeasure up to Myles!\u201d Superintendent Joe Harrington joked.<\/p>\n
The arena is nearing completion and could begin hosting volleyball within about a month, athletic director Mike Fielder said.<\/p>\n
Turner wants his presence to extend beyond the name on the building, he said. The agreement allows Turner and his nonprofit, Work as Role Models, or WARM, to use the arena for basketball camps, practices, clinics and other activities through a separate facility-use agreement. He told trustees he plans to return for basketball camps each summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in person leaves such an impact that you can\u2019t measure,\u201d Turner told the Report. \u201cIf I\u2019m actually here, boots on the ground, making an impact, that\u2019s, I think, the most important part beyond that financially.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was once a \u201cscared little sophomore\u201d walking Trinity\u2019s halls, unsure of what was ahead, he told trustees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still doesn\u2019t feel real,\u201d he said of seeing his name attached to the fieldhouse. \u201cStill feels very surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n
This upcoming NBA season, the 30-year-old Turner will be one of the Bucks\u2019 most experienced veterans, a role that could come with increased leadership responsibilities on a retooled roster. He was also recently elected vice president of the National Basketball Players Association<\/a> by his peers. Turner credited HEB ISD with helping shape how he leads today.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t only being taught leadership, but being shown leadership,\u201d Turner said. \u201cAmazing coaches, amazing teachers. They helped me shape who I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n Trustees also approved a separate $15,000 donation from the Turner family for a grand piano that district officials said is already being used by Trinity\u2019s choir program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Supporting the arts, alongside athletics, was another way of showing students that they do not have to define themselves by one pursuit, Turner said.<\/p>\n \u201cBasketball is not the only thing that makes me myself,\u201d said Turner, an avid Lego lover<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of other things that make me Myles Turner. I always want kids to know that.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @matthewsgroi1<\/a>.<\/p>\n