Nickerson basketball star Ava Jones, family injured as pedestrians in Louisville crash
Nickerson star athlete Ava Jones and her family were hospitalized Tuesday night after police said an impaired driver hit them as they walked on a sidewalk in downtown Louisville.
Jones, her parents, Trey and Amy, and her younger brother were all struck by the car, Wheat State Elite owner Dylan Evans confirmed on Wednesday. The family was in Louisville for an AAU girls basketball tournament, in which Jones was playing for Wheat State Elite.
According to Louisville Metro Police, the parents were in critical condition Wednesday morning, the teenage female was in “serious but stable condition” and the child was treated for “minor injuries.”
Police said the accident occurred around 8 p.m. Tuesday when a driver struck four pedestrians in downtown Louisville. Police arrested Michael Hurley, a 33-year-old from Lexington, Ind., after the incident and charged him with four counts of first-degree assault along with driving under the influence and a license possession violation.
According to the police report, Hurley was turning left on a downtown street when his car left the road and hit the four pedestrians. Police said Hurley told officers he had taken hydrocodone and was “so tired that he could not make the turn.”
The accident comes just two days after Ava Jones, one of the nation’s top class of 2023 basketball recruits, announced her commitment to the Iowa women’s basketball team. She was a three-sport, all-state star at Nickerson, where she was a standout volleyball, basketball and track athlete.
Jones, a 6-foot-2 forward, averaged 20.8 points and 15.4 rebounds to power Nickerson to the Class 3A state basketball semifinals this past season.
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