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The LaGrange High School Grangers will be well represented at the Women’s College World Series that kicks off this weekend. Jamarion Wilkerson (class of ‘25) is a student manager with the Ole Miss Rebels, who are making their first-ever appearance at the World Series.

“It’s been an amazing journey so far,” he said. “We weren’t predicted to even make the postseason. We were projected to finish like 15th in the SEC, which is what makes it even more special.”

The last month has been a whirlwind for the former Granger. Wilkerson has been all over the map with the Rebels and is currently in Oklahoma prepping for the start of the World Series. 

“I think we’ve been on the road every weekend in May, going to Athens, to coming home for like three days, packing up and coming to going to Arizona, then going home to, like, a day, and then going to Arkansas, and then from Arkansas straight to Oklahoma,” Wilkerson said. “I am looking forward to getting back to my own bed instead of a hotel room.”

Wilkerson joined the Rebels at the perfect time. Ole Miss has already put together its best season ever and is the only participant of the eight teams that was not a national seed heading into the regionals and super regionals. It all starts on Thursday for Wilkerson and the Rebels as they take on Texas Tech at 7 p.m.

“If we win tomorrow, then we won’t play again until Saturday, but i we lose tomorrow, then we will play an elimination game on Friday,” he said. 

Wilkerson’s role with the team has grown as the year has progressed. At the start of the year, he was mainly helping the women warm up and doing video recording. Now, he is much more involved with the data analytics side of things.

“I’m doing more bat testing, making sure we’re on track with all of our NCAA-regulated stuff,” Wilkerson said. “Right now, it’s a lot of collecting data and sorting through it.

“I think I probably do a lot more than some of the other student assistants just because I’m more involved on a day-to-day basis and I just can’t sit still,” he added with a chuckle.

The run the Rebels have been on this season has really inspired Wilkerson. The soon-to-be sophomore sees a future for himself in the realm of sports.

“I realized that I, for sure, want to keep doing this when our assistant coach, who took seven years off from coaching and his first year back, and first time making it to the World Series,” Wilkeson said. “Watching him cry, someone who never cries, made me realize this is what I want to do.”

Wilkerson, a sports management major, wrapped his inaugural college year earlier in May. Originally, the Granger grad went to Ole Miss to major in pre-law, but has switched his major, which was heavily influenced by his time with the Rebels’ softball program.

He will have a bit of a break once the World Series wraps, and he looks forward to a return home to LaGrange. The rest and recovery will be short-lived as Wilkerson will get back on campus and back to work with the softball team in August.