Perhaps subconsciously, Jayo Adegboyo participated in soccer, basketball and track — the same sports his father took up while growing up in Nigeria. And like his father, Adegboyo, a Columbia resident, excelled in the sprints, earning spots on the Howard High and UMBC track and field teams.

But while the elder Adegboyo ran the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races, Jayo Adegboyo (pronounced J-eye-O) has primarily competed in the 200 and 400 — although he petitioned for the 100.

“I was like, ‘Coach, can you put me in the 100? I really want to run the 100,’” he said. “He would say, ‘Uh, maybe next week.’ But I definitely wanted to run the 100 and 200 because my dad ran the 100 and 200.”

Tunde Adegboyo said watching his 23-year-old son follow in his footsteps has been rewarding.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “It was almost like reliving my life and goals through him.”

There’s been more to celebrate for the Adegboyo family, which includes mother, Sade, twin brother, Jola, and younger sister, Jore, who is a junior at Penn State. Earlier this month, Jayo Adegboyo was named the male recipient of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Award, which recognizes students of color who — like the late tennis Hall of Famer — excel in the classroom and their sports. Oregon track athlete Jaida Ross is the winner of the female award.Past honorees include former San Diego State and St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk (1993), former Tennessee point guard and current Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson (2003), and former N.C. State and Wisconsin and current New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (2011). UMBC middle-distance runner Isaac Matthews won the award in 2007, and former Penn State and Ravens guard John Urschel won it in 2014.

Adegboyo, a senior, will graduate Wednesday with a bachelor’s in biochemistry and molecular biology and a GPA of 3.952. He will pursue a doctorate in either neurosurgery or psychiatry at Rutgers. Ralph Newell, vice president of a publication called Diverse: Issues in Higher Education that coordinates the honor, noted that Adegboyo was one of 304 male candidates for the award.

“He was exemplary on and off the field,” Newell said. “He has a very rigorous major. He has an extremely high cumulative GPA. It was those things that stood out.”

Another aspect that drew attention is Adegboyo’s work for a migraine research lab at the University of Iowa. The endeavor is personal for him because his father has been suffering from migraines since he was 9 years old.

“It’s been hard in terms of seeing what he has to go through, but I have pride as well in my dad,” Adegboyo said. “I can say that he’s the strongest person I know because of this.”

Dr. Rainbo Hultman, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Iowa, said she met Adegboyo at Duke University and invited him to join her lab’s online meetings on migraine research. Over two summers in her lab, Adegboyo built electrodes and conducted neurophysiological recordings of mice during migraine simulations.

“Jayo’s personal connection to the work is inspiring and something that we share,” she said via email. “Migraine is such a debilitating disorder with so much suffering involved. We’re working to give people quality of life, of more time to spend enjoying their loved ones and really living life.”

When he was younger, Tunde Adegboyo said simply wrapping a couple of pieces of ice around his head cured him of migraines. But when he became a freshman at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, the affliction increased in frequency and intensity.

Running a few 100 or 200 races on the track and then certain medicines helped alleviate the pain for Tunde Adegboyo. But as he got older, relief became fleeting.

Tunde Adegboyo said he can go four or five days free of migraines “if I’m lucky.” Otherwise, he said, “Once it comes on, I get it for days.”

Tunde Adegboyo said he learned that chocolate, pollen and loud noise would trigger what he called “auras,” which preceded the onset of migraines. He said he usually wraps ice around his head and sits in a dark room for about four to five hours until his head cleared.

Despite the debilitating nature of his father’s migraines, Jayo Adegboyo said his father rarely missed a soccer or basketball game or track meet. He continues to inspire his son.

“It’s kind of been more a testament to what I want to be,” he said. “He still goes out of his way to help people and make sure that he can be his best self for them so that they can be their best selves.”

Although there is no known cure for migraines, Jayo Adegboyo has tried to share what he learned to help bring his father some relief. Tunde Adegboyo said pressing his fingers to his temples can help “pause” migraine pain for 15 to 20 seconds.

Despite being frustrated by the absence of a medical answer, Tunde Adegboyo said he is touched that his son chose to participate in migraine research.

“That just warms my heart,” he said. “It gives me hope. Every day is a delight and exciting. I’m excited for him. I talk to him a lot about his research, and he tells me some of the things he’s looking into.”

A career in medicine has been Jayo Adegboyo’s primary motivation. He spent a semester in Växjö, Sweden, where he shadowed an EMT and anesthesia technologist conducting orthopedic surgery, and is looking forward to attending medical school.

Adegboyo said earning the Arthur Ashe Jr. award has raised his level of confidence.

“It reaffirms that I can do this, that I do have the capacity to be able to pursue this career,” he said. “And I have the resilience from balancing the academic side of things and from leading other people.”

Hultman, the Iowa professor, said Adegboyo is deserving of the honor.

“I have been consistently impressed with Jayo’s discipline and determination,” she said. “He is the first person to enthusiastically say yes to a challenge, always with the courage and tenacity to see it through. I’m amazed that he is able to manage to do all that he does, balancing a rigorous academic schedule with his athletics.”

And like a proud parent, Tunde Adegboyo can’t help crowing about his son.

“Wherever I go, I’m like, ‘My son is an award winner,’” he said. “I’m spreading the joy.”

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