You could say that the theme for the past week for the William Woods University Men’s Basketball team was literally “mission accomplished.”
By defeating Mission University this past Saturday in Springfield, Mo., the Owls accomplished their greater mission for the 2024-2025 season. The 94-65 victory clinched the university’s first-ever regular season conference championship in Men’s Basketball, a remarkable achievement for head coach Jordan Ashton in just his second year at the helm.
“It’s extremely exciting, and one of the major goals we had at the beginning of the season,” said Ashton, who came to WWU in 2023 from Iowa Wesleyan University and is a remarkable 44-11 (80%) in his two seasons as Owls head coach. “It is gratifying being able to check a big goal off the list, but now we have some even bigger ones ahead.”
Indeed, the Owls certainly have incredible opportunities in front of them. Ranked 9th in the nation in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and holding the top seed in the upcoming American Midwest Conference (AMC)Tournament after a spectacular (25-2, 17-1 AMC) regular season, competing for a national championship is next on the agenda. But that doesn’t mean the Owls are not stopping to appreciate what they have already accomplished, which is absolutely unprecedented in WWU Athletics history.
And that’s why after winning at Mission to clinch that first-ever conference title, they made sure to celebrate by cutting down the nets – but back in their own home gym on the WWU campus, Anderson Arena, after the long bus ride home Saturday night.
“It was kind of surreal to be in that position to do that, win a conference championship, and it really showed us how the hard work we put in the offseason paid off,” said Nate Schwartze ’25, who paced the Owls to Saturday’s victory with a game-high 22 points and who is second on the club in scoring at 12.9 points per game. “We wanted to cut the nets down right after the game, but it felt great to come back to cut them down here in our own home gym, where we have had so much success.”
“Right after we won on Saturday it was great, but it really hit home that we did something big when we returned here to cut down the nets that night, and just having the people here to support us, it was something I’ll always remember,” said guard D’Mari Wiltz ’25, a New Orleans native and transfer from Missouri Baptist. “It feels really good, knowing that we did something here this year that will drive the program in the future. But right now, the job’s not done of where we want to go.”
It was fitting that the Owls made sure to cut down the nets where they were nearly unbeatable this year, posting a 13-1 record at Anderson Arena. But that mark was but one of the many records this William Woods team has shattered or set in 2024-2025. In addition to winning the first ever conference championship in men’s basketball in school history, this group set the school record for wins in one season (25), is currently on the longest winning streak in program history at 20 straight wins, and achieved the first-ever top ten national ranking in William Woods history.
Pretty heady stuff for any college basketball team, but the head coach who led his previous school of Iowa Wesleyan to the winningest season in its 115-year history is keeping things on an even keel heading into a post-season of dazzling possibilities.
“These guys, they have bought into our culture, our ways of doing what we do, so now you see it really coming together and hopefully we can keep things going,” said Ashton. “You really need the right pieces on a roster, pieces that fit your culture, and I think we have that with this group.”
Forward Henry Shannon ’26, who is one of the Owls leading scorers at 14.3 points per game this season, knows all about Coach Ashton’s culture. The Apple Valley, Minnesota native was one of three current Owls who played for Ashton at Iowa Wesleyan, winning big there before the program was shut down and they followed their coach to Fulton.
“I have been with coach for my entire college career, and I have seen him do what needs to be done to build a winner,” said Shannon, whose fellow Iowa Wesleyan transfer Francis Okwuosah ’25 is the team’s top scorer. “Just seeing the guys he has brought in, along with the guys who were already here, it’s like a big family with teammates from all over the country, all bonded by winning.”
And winning is all the Owls have done during this memorable winter of 2024-2025, with much more still out there on the national stage. In the future, things figure to get tougher as Men’s Basketball and all William Woods Athletics teams move into the Heart of America Conference next season. But that’s down the road, and here in the present, in a year when The Woods made athletic history by announcing the conference move and adding new sports like intercollegiate football, it has been these Men’s Basketball Owls that have soared the highest.
“I felt right at home when I came to interview here for this job,” said Ashton, recalling his transition to WWU in 2023. “I also felt that William Woods was a place where our guys, and the guys we brought in, could also feel right at home as well. I just felt like it was the right fit, and we have been fortunate to have people who have bought into our culture and our standards, and embracing what it takes to win. That has been the biggest thing since I have been at William Woods.”
The top-seeded Owls begin their quest for the AMC Conference Tournament title on Thursday of this week, when they host eighth-seeded Harris-Stowe University at 7 p.m. at Anderson Arena. After that will come yet another milestone – the first-ever trip by a William Woods Men’s Basketball team to the NAIA National Tournament. And who knows? Two wins there and the Owls are back in the state of Missouri, competing in the Sweet 16 at Kansas City’s famed Municipal Auditorium.
For these Owls, the sky is seemingly the limit!
