IOWA CITY, Iowa โ Earlier this year, the life of Nickerson High School senior and Iowa women's basketball signee Ava Jones changed forever when she and her family were hit by a car while in Kentucky for a basketball tournament.
Her dad was killed as a result of the crash and Ava and her mom were severely injured.
Jones has been working hard to return to the sport she loves, but even if she isn't able to make a comeback on the court, Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder has said that her scholarship offer still stands.
In November, Jones made it official by signing her national letter of intent to play at Iowa.
Her determination has inspired so many and even got the attention of RAYGUN. They created a line of shirts for ava that fans can buy online and in their stores.
Jones became the first high schooler they partnered with for a name, image and likeness deal.
Joseph Heuermann, who is the store manager for the Iowa City location, said he's proud to be a part of supporting student-athletes like Jones.
"You can get a shirt that says Iowa Hawkeyes or Iowa or just tiger hawk, but now we can provide something that can directly support the players," said Heuermann.
RAYGUN founder and owner Mike Draper said that a friend connected them with Jones and after that, they ran some slogans by her that would be on the t-shirts, which she approved.
Jones and the other athletes with an NIL deal with RAYGUN receive 20% of the merchandise sales.