Pacific Tennis Senior Rayden Murata Named Semifinalist for Ashe Sports Scholar Award

By 
Danny Kambel

Rayden MurataPacific University men's tennis senior Rayden Murata (Kaimuki, Hawaii) has been named one of the 10 male semifinalists for the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sport Scholar award, as announced by Diverse: Issues in High Education on Tuesday, March 31. The award recognizes outstanding minority young men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits.

Over three-plus seasons on the court, Murata recorded 62 career wins en route to first team all-Northwest Conference honors in 2019. Off the court, he has been an active member of the Pacific University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the last four years. In 2019-20, he serves as the President after serving in 2018-19 as a Vice President. He also represented Pacific University at the 2019 CoSIDA Convention as a student panelist for the annual Divisional Day in Orlando, Fla.

In addition to their athletic ability, the students named 2020 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars are students of color who have maintained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, are at least a sophomore academically, and have been active on their campuses or in their communities. Of the close to 1,000 scholar-athletes nominated, one male and one female athlete will be selected as Sports Scholar of the Year.

Past Ashe scholars include: Baylor's Robert Griffin III (2011); Tennessee's Kara Lawson (2003); San Diego State's Marshall Faulk (1993), and Stanford University's Simone Manuel (2017).

The male semifinalists (in alphabetical order) are:

  • Mohamed Barry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Football
  • Rodrigo Blankenship, University of Georgia, Football
  • Aaron Boyd, Virginia Tech, Swimming & Diving
  • Talha Farooq, George Mason University, Wrestling
  • Uriel Garcia, University of Houston-Victoria, Soccer
  • Jordan Holly, Murray State University, Baseball
  • Rayden Murata, Pacific University, Tennis
  • Dontelius Ross, Jackson State University, Basketball
  • Matthias Schmid, University of Louisville, Golf
  • Givon Washington, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Track & Field
Monday, April 6, 2020