Mt. Pleasant- The Ashton’s are taking over Fulton, Missouri as Aaiden Ashton signed his letter of intention to play basketball and major in business at William Woods University. This decision comes after Jordan Ashton was announced as the next head coach for the Owls on April 13th and officially started on April 28th. Coach Ashton will be bringing five members of Iowa Wesleyan’s team from last year, so familiarity did not seem to be an issue for Aaiden Ashton,
“It’ll be really helpful, just for comfortability and help get situated.”
Aaiden Ashton was a focal point for the Panthers the past two seasons as he put up 511 points and secured 213 rebounds, which included a shooting percentage of 40.6% from the field and 35.7% from three-point range. Ashton took a major step forward in his senior season as Payton Hagans, Owen Vansickel, and Ashton was akin to guarding Cerberus when they were all healthy. Coach Ashton talked about how much Aaiden has improved over the years.
“Just his growth, his continued growth every year. I mean you could see it with the numbers, you can see it with his body just how he looks, and I think he still has—obviously I’m a little biased—a ton of potential and room for growth going forward. And he works hard too, it’s not just something that kind of happened. He puts in the work, so I think he has a bright future.”
Ashton finished his senior season averaging 14.5 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game as he improved his shooting from the field eight points from his junior season—35.4% to 43%. This backcourt trio helped the Panthers finish with an 18-6 record, a 12-game winning streak, and their first conference championship since the 2017-18 season. Ashton talked about his enjoyment of last season,
“It was really fun, much love to my teammates and all of them guys. And good luck next year for those who are sticking around.”
The 6’2 guard will be joining an Owls squad that collected an 8-8 conference record on their way to a 15-13 overall record last season.