ITA coverage

        NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Jered Wilson was announced Thursday as the men's recipient of the ITA NAIA National Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award for 2022-23.
        Wilson — a sophomore from Red Oak, Texas, a graduate of Red Oak High School and a biology/pre-medical major at XULA — has 350 community service hours. During this school year he volunteered at Trinity Community Center, where he played games with kids and helped them with cooking and their vocabulary homework. Back home he and church members helped feed the homeless at a tent city.
        Wilson was a XULA freshman in 2020-21, then skipped the following academic year to spend 13 months in Los Angeles as a research lab assistant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. There Wilson investigated the effect of Alzheimer's disease on the retina.
        On the court this past season, Wilson won eight singles matches during the spring — two in the postseason — and helped Coach Alan Green's Gold Rush finish 18-7 with a No. 7 ranking in the NAIA coaches poll. XULA won an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament championship in April and reached the quarterfinals of NAIA nationals in May.
        "Jered is exactly what our mission at Xavier is all about — making this world a more just and humane society," Green said.
        One week earlier, the ITA announced Wilson as the South Region recipient of this award.
        Wilson's honor is the ninth ITA end-of-season national award in 11 seasons for the XULA men.

Jered Wilson photo by Yamlak Tsega