Sheremy Dillard is being remembered as much for the young people she mentored as for her work on the basketball court, days after the beloved North Carolina coach was found stabbed to death in her Raleigh home.

Dillard, 57, was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside her home on August 13, according to Raleigh police. Her boyfriend, 60-year-old Rickey Harper, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.

Harper was arrested in Pennsylvania after authorities used Flock cameras to track him to Plymouth Township, according to PEOPLE. Police said he briefly refused to surrender before he was taken into custody, according to WRAL.

Former colleagues and players are remembering Dillard as a mentor who advocated for her students and treated the athletes, coaches and colleagues around her like family.

Dillard’s coaching career included serving as the inaugural head coach of the girls’ basketball programs at Carrboro High School and Felton Grove High School in Apex, where she also worked as a recovery teacher, PEOPLE reported.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools posted a tribute to the longtime coach on Facebook, writing, “Many of our current Jaguar staff and students had strong, lasting relationships with Coach Dillard.”

A Durham native, Dillard played basketball at Hillside High School before attending North Carolina Central University and later becoming a coach and mentor to generations of young athletes.

But Dillard’s impact stretched far beyond basketball.

ABC11 reports that Dillard’s family roots trace back to Durham’s historic Hayti community. Her grandfather, Samuel Dillard, founded Dillard’s Grocery Store on Fayetteville Street, which later became Dillard’s Bar-B-Q.

“She was a daughter of this community,” her aunt, Wilma Dillard, told ABC 11.

Former Hillside High School basketball coach Tony Ford added, “She was a Dillard, and in Durham, if you’re a Dillard, everybody knows you.”

“She left Carrboro with a profound legacy of class, grace, wisdom and dedicated service,” Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools said.