Ashton family ready for the Woods

FULTON — Life moves fast, and with the sudden change in pace brought on by the closing of Iowa Wesleyan, it had to for both Jordan and Aaiden Ashton.

On Wednesday, Aaiden made the decision to follow his brother, Iowa Wesleyan coach Jordan Ashton, to Fulton, Missouri, next year to play at William Woods University.

Aaiden made the announcement and signed on the dotted line inside the Mt. Pleasant Media Center.

“I was planning on going to Iowa Wesleyan to play under my brother,” Aaiden said. “With the unfortunate closing of Iowa Wesleyan, he had to find another job, and I just decided to move with him.”

Coach Ashton accepted the William Woods job last month, moving him to the very league Iowa Wesleyan would have joined next school year. The Owls compete in the American Midwest Conference.

William Woods was 15-13 last year, and 8-8 in conference play. The Owls advanced all the way to the AMC semifinals before falling to rival Columbia College.

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Aaiden scored 14.5 points per game for the Panthers, second-most on the team. He was third in rebounds with 5.1 rebounds per game, and 2.4 assists per game.

Coach Ashton says he has seen his little brother take steps to become a college-level player.

“It’s his continued growth every year,” Coach Ashton said. “You can see it with the numbers. You can see it with his body. How he looks. Obviously I'm a little biased, but I think he still has a ton of potential for growth going forward.”

Along with his brother, Coach Ashton says he’s taking a handful of Iowa Wesleyan players south with him, which should set the Owls up pretty well next season.

Ashton estimates five players from the 2022-23 Tiger roster will be on the Owls next season, and some have already taken to social media to announce their commitment.

“Hopefully we're a lot better than we were last year,” Coach Ashton said. “We want to win a national championship.”

While at William Woods, Aaiden plans on studying business.