Vegas to Diamondhead- those players' first names

I was scanning the 12/23/18 scores of the smaller hoop conferences  and the names JoJo, Fatts, Amauri, Zigmars, and Lamine  leapt off the page.
Jo Jo Zamora scored 28  for N.Mex St  (WAC) in a win over Wash St (Pac12). Of course, I remember Jo Jo White, of Kansas then the Celtics.
Fatts Russell scored 20 for Rhode Island (A10) in a win over Charlotte (CUSA).
Amauri Hardy scored 22  for UNLV (MWC) in its loss to Indiana St(MVC)

Zigmars Raimo (14 PTS, 17 REB, 3 AST) in Hawaii's (Big West) win over Colorado (pac 12) 

Lamine Diane (24 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST ) for CSU Northridge (Big West) in a narrow win over Rider(MAAC)

April 20

Making the transition to  college baseball players' interesting first names.

Alsander Womack

Norfolk St. batting

.463.

Easton Walker has a .82 ERA for BYU.

 Adley Rutschman batting  .420 for Oregon St.  Equon Smith has 32 SB for Jackson St.
Andru Summerall (FAU) scored 29 runs

may 7, 2019

I guess this first name isn't too rare.  #davonJones, a BC  RUNNING BACK grad transfer, will be reunited with former Boston College assistant coach Scot Loeffler, who is now the head coach of Bowling Green (MAC).

may 26,2019

 The spelling of  #CodiePaiva,  Loyola Marymount pitcher (7-5, 1.71 ERA), first name is different. BTW, LMU won the WCC tournament.

june 19

Try learning how to spell this first name as a kid:  Kent St defensive back #QwuantrezzKnight will appeal the NCAA's denial of his waiver request for immediate eligibility, which he says is based on depression he developed while playing at MD.

July 13

 #Tyree Appleby 's name has some commercial potential ,  but he was the Cleveland St (Horizon) best basketball player, and his transfer request may have played a role in yesterday's dismissal of head coach #DennisFelton and his staff in the middle of the only July live period. Felton's resume includes HC stints at #wku and #uga .

aug 20

 Wisconsin football reinstates WR Quintez Cephus after being acquitted on two counts of sexual assault.
 aug 26:  Cephus is practicing and listed behind Pryor on the WR depth chart.
sept 2: Cephus had three catches for 39 yards in a Wisky blowout  49-0 win over USF . Bigger question is USF HC Charley Strong  headed for the exit?
sept 24:  Healthy Houston QB D’Eriq King is going to use the red shirt rule to eventually grad transfer elsewhere in 2020.  Self absorption reaches a new high

May 3 , 2020 

I omitted #pookawilliams, RB for Kansas, in my list. He'll be back for his junior year this season.  He's first Kansas U football player since Gale Sayers in 1963 to reach 2,000 career rushing yards in his first two seasons. BTW, Kansas is renewing a Big 8/ big 12 border war in 2025 with Missouri who left for the SEC in 2011.

August 18, 2020

Jahmi'us Ramsey, a Texas Tech freshman hoopster is expected to be a rd1 pick in the NBA draft. The spelling of his name has me wondering if the clerk hit the ' in error while typing his birth certificate.

Jan 10, 2021

Sometimes checking out these rare first names keeps me in the loop. I caught some action on the Red Zone and noticed that #QuintezCephus saw a lot of action in final four games for the Detroit Lions.

May 8, 2021

#JakubDombek and his Hartford U teammates can't be happy with this. Their reward for winning  the school's first America East championship and first Dance ticket is to learn its dropping all sports  from Division I to Division III. Consultants claim the move will save 9M.

May 9, 2021

Cashius McNeilly, a Texas A&M point guard and a native of Scarborough, Ontario , transferred  to TCU . Maybe he'll change the spelling to $$$$ius to take advantage of  the coming laws that allow college athletes to make money from their name, image, and likeness rights.

May 11, 2021

BTW, Pooka Williams was signed as a FA by the Bengals 

May 27, 2021

"It's the lack of respect for the area that bothers me," Hartford U hoops Coach Gallagher said. "It's the '(Hartford) Whalers Syndrome.'

Aug 9, 2022

Checking back in! Pooka Williams, spent most of last season on the Bengals training squad and played one game in December at kick returner. He's been a returner during 2022 Bengals training camp.

Sept 9, 2022

Some tough games to pick among teams with a long matchup histories took me another odd first name. Jirehl Brock, RB for Iowa St. Iowa/Iowa St and Kansas St /Missouri are some tough games to predict this weekend.

Dec 29, 2022

Jalon Daniels was back for the Jayhawks who nearly completed a huge comeback against Arkansas but fell 55-53 in OT. Texas Tech spanked Ol Miss last night. I was hoping for a 2-0 Big 12 night.

Circling back to the original blog topic, I noticed Pooka Williams only lasted a season with the Bengals and is now in the XFL.

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Sunbelt 2018/19 Hoops Hunches

1) Georgia Southern Eagles: My favorite named player , #TookieBrown , will keep the Eagles near the top
2) Georgia State Panthers: D’Marcus Simonds is the main man.
3) Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns hung with Kansas and beat Tulane early this season
4) Appalachian State Mountaineers- Justin Forrest 19.2ppg and crew have weathered a tough OOC schedule.
5) Troy Trojans: Varnado has been solid.
6) UL Monroe Warhawks: Travis Munnings has been decent but will need some help.
7) Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Cuthbertson 20.4 PPG
8) South Alabama Jaguars needs O.
9) Texas State Bobcats:  Nijai Pearson is the player to watch.
10) Arkansas State Red Wolves: Rough  out of conference start except for Ty Cockfield 21.1ppg
11) UT Arlington Mavericks- Rebuilding
12) Little Rock Trojans- Good luck to Coach Darrell Walker, a former NBA player, in finding some O.

jan 8, 2019

 Texas St held of Georgia Southern 73-70 to open league play and hung tight in a 73-69 loss to conference leader Georgia St.

jan13, 2019

 Tre Nottingham and Nijal Pearson scored 16 points apiece and #TXST (14-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) defeated #appst. It may be time to get join the Bobcats' pack.  GST, UTA, ARLR, Troy, and ULL also won yesterday.

jan 18, 2019

Texas St (15-3 4-1), my pre-season  sunbelt -9th team , blew by ARLR LAST NIGHT as Tre Nottingham scored 24 points and Nijal Pearson added 19 . Other winners: UTA, GAST, and Georgia Southern

jan 23, 2019

Texas State (5-1) Nijal Pearson had 29 points and 11 rebounds and TXST went on 30-0 run to beat Ark St 77-64 on Jan 19. Varnado's 3-pointer  with 1.7 seconds on the clock gave Troy the victory over  Georgia State (5-1)
feb 1, 2019
 Zac Cuthbertson had 29 points and Devante Jones scored 25 in Coastal Carolina.'s win over ULM.
Tyrell Johnson scored 20 points in 16 minutes for App St in its 104-77 romp over ULL.

Feb 3

It's getting crowded at the top of the Sunbelt heap. 

Georgia State  (7-2) D'Marcus Simonds scored 29 points in a win over Georgia Southern

Texas State (6-3) #BrianWarren scored  30 points in a 83-77 OT win over UT Arlington(6-3)

 Coastal Carolina (6-3) #ZacCuthbertson scored 24 points in a win over ULL

Feb 9
Good Friday night for the Louisiana schools: ULM beat Georgia Southern and ULL beat Georgia St

Feb 10

Texas St remains tied for first with UTA for first- he!! of a season. NPearson scored 17 points  for TXST in the win over CCU remaining tied with UTA  beat appst.
Feb 16
Both Georgia schools got big Friday night Sunbelt wins:  Malik Benlevi scored  26 points as Georgia St defeated South Alabama 90-81,and Tookie Brown and Isaiah Crawley scored 16 points apiece as GA Southern rolled over South Bama to a 76-51. TXSt 9-3, GA St 9-4, UTA 8-4, GS 8-5

feb 22

TX St fell to ULM(7-6)  which allowed Georgia St , a winner over AppSt (4-9) ,to move into a tie for first with them at 10-4. Tookie Brown had 17 for  Georgia Southern(9-5) in its win over CCU (6-7). UTA(8-6) lost to ULL (7-6)

feb 24

Brian Warren scored  33 points for TXST(11-4) in its OT win over ULM and took sole possession of first place when  Ga St(10-5) lost to Coastal Carolina. Ga Southern (10-5) get 28 points for Tookie Brown in its win over AppSt.

Mar 2

TXST(12-4) hasn't folded  and beat Troy to stay one game ahead of Ga St (10-5), a winner over Ark St thursday night  in the Sunbelt race. UTA(10-6) beat South Bama. GA Southern (11-5) was idle.

March 9

Two intrastate games , GA St/Georgia Southern and UTA/TXSt , will determine the regular season Sunbelt winner. UTA is 11-6, the other three teams are 12-5. TXSt had a bad loss to South Bama last week buthas had a he!! of a surprising season.

 March 10

 Kane Williams scored a career-high 23 points helping Ga Southern beat Ga St to clinch the Sunbelt title because TXST lost to UTA

march 13

Nice second half from South Bama in a rd1 win over Ark St  ULM knocked off App St. Troy and Ark LR didn't qualify, and the top four teams get double byes.

March 15

 South Bama is shaking up the Sunbelt T. Rodrick Sikes made one of two free throws with four seconds left to give USA a 70-69 win over ULL. Michael Ertel had 20 points as Louisiana-Monroe crushed Coastal Carolina 80-50.

March 16

TXST halted South Bama's Cinderella move with 79-67 win while Georgia Southern beat ULM. TXST plays GA St and GA Southern faces UTA today.

March 17

Malik Benlevi tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead Georgia State to a 59-46 win over Texas St who scored only fifteen points in the first half. Brian Warren scored 21 points as Texas-Arlington beat Georgia Southern 67-58 and prevented all Georgia SunbeltT final.

March 26,2019

 I thought he was Georgia St lifer: Coach  Ron Hunter, fresh off a dance loss to Houston on Friday in, took the #Tulane (AAC) opening.

April 1, 2019

#chrisbeard , the Texas Tech HC , is big news these days. It wasn't long ago he had Arkansas -Little Rock fans ecstatic when they beat Purdue in rd1 of the 2016 Dance then fell to Iowa St in rd2

april 7

  #PhilCunningham took #troy to the dance in 2017 and now he's out. Wow!  They hired  Scott Cross, who some success at UTA through the 2017-18 season.
App State hired  Dustin Kerns , who led Presbyterian (Big South) to  solid 20-16 season and a CTI  invitation after a weak 11- 21  record in 2017-18. It's not the greatest resume.

april 15

 Georgia State hired Tennessee assistant Rob Lanier, a longtime assistant for Rick Barnes at Texas and Tennessee, as it's new HC. He was the HC at Sienna (MAAC) from 2001-05.

MAC 2018/19 Hoops Hunches

EAST
Buffalo Bulls: C.J. Massinburg, Nick Perkins & Jeremy Harris are back from last year's team that upset Zona  during March MaDNESS.
Kent State Golden Flashes: Jaylin Walker continues to impress.
Akron Zips: Utomi has been scoring well
Ohio Bobcats: Keep your eyes onJason Carter!
Bowling Green Falcons:  Wiggins & Turner show
Miami (OH) RedHawks: Dalonte Brown may be the guy.

WEST
Eastern Michigan returns four starters, including its top three scorers in Minnie, Thompson, and Paul Jackson, from last season's  squad that finished the year 22-13 overall and 11-7(MAC)
Toledo Rockets : Willie Jackson has been solid  in the first month.
Ball State Cardinals Tayler Persons will keep the Cards from the bottom of the West deck.
Central Michigan Chippewas: Larry Austin Jr  19 ppg this season.
Northern Illinois Huskies: Eugene German  23.4 PPG
Western Michigan Broncos: Seth Duga 18.9ppg  10.6 rbg

dec 19, 2018

How about #buffalo beating  regional foe Syracuse (ACC) 71-59. #massingburg led the Bulls with  25points, 8 rebounds  and  five assists. Big win for the #MAC.
dec 22: #marquette outscored #buffalo 64-47 on its way to 102-85  win. First loss for Buffalo who will probably tumble from its # 14 ranking.

jan 5

I checked in on some Friday night MAC action last night and was impressed at how #BallSt pulled away from Toledo early in the second half and never looked back . Teague scored 20 points with and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Cards.
Montell McRae scored a career-high 18 points in Buffalo's win over EMU.

jan 9

#buffalo scored 65 points in the second half on the way to a 110-80 win over #toledo . 

jan 15, 2019

Yes, Buffalo looks dominant, but Bowling Green and NIU are also 3-0 in conference play. BG 's first chance to play Buffalo is Feb 1 and then they 'll meet in  regular season final game (3/8)  in what could be key games to decide the East. NIU (West) faces Buffalo on Jan 22.

Jan 16, 2019

 Shawn Roundtree hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points  for CMU as they gave NIU its first conference loss. Turner and Plowden scored about half of Bowling Green's points in a 79-78 win over Ball St that keeps them in a MAC East tie with Buffalo , who got a battle from WMU but prevailed 88-79.

jan 19, 2019

#emu crept close to Buffalo last night, but the Bulls led by  #cjmassingburg (31 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST) pulled away for 77-65 win. Toldeo blew out Ohio 75-52 

jan 20, 2019

I cursed NIU- they lost again this time to Kent St., but Bowling Green(13-5, 5-0 MAC) won their ninth straight game. Miami O beat Akron and Ball St beat CMU

Jan 23

And just like that NIU (4-2 MAC) recovers and upsets Buffalo (5-1 MAC) 77-75. Meanwhile  Bowling Green (14-5, 6-0 MAC)beat EMU to remain undefeated in MAC play and one game up on Buffalo in the East. NIU is one game up on on Toledo and CMU in the West.

Jan 26

#kentst  (15-5, 4-3), who was hosting its first ranked opponent since 1989, gave #Buffalo

(18-2, 6-1) a scare, but Massinburg and the Bulls got it together, particularly on D, to pull out a 88-79 win. Bowling Green (14-5, 6-0) needs to win at Miami O to stay ahead of Buffalo in the East.

feb 2

#bowlinggreen  recovered from it's  loss to Miami O last week to upset #buffalo 92-88 last night. Frye scored 25 points for BG while Massingburg led Buffalo with 26 points
feb 6: Bowling Green beat WMU, and Kent St  edged Miami O
MAC East:

feb 9 Loren Cristian Jackson had 18 points as #Akron  topped KentState 72-53 . MAC East Bowling Green 8 -1                         Buffalo 7-2           Kent St. 6-4                        Akron    6 -4         . Miami (Ohio)     4 -6         Ohio      3 -6  feb 10 Toledo knocked off Bowling Green while Buffalo beat CMU  . Miami O crushed ohio Bowling Green 8 -2                         Buffalo 8-2           Kent St. 6-4                        Akron    6 -4         . Miami (Ohio)     5 -6         Ohio      3 -7 feb 13 Buffalo and Bowling Green won to remain tied for 1st in the East. Massinburg scored 21 for Buffalo in its win over Akron, and Frye scored 23 for BG in its win over  CMU . WMU  beat NIU for its first MAC win this season , and EMU beat Ohio. feb 16 Perkins 26 PTS, 10 REB, 1 BLK doesn't have the best shot selection but he hit a key trey late as Buffalo(10-2) survived Toledo (8-4 East)  88-82 . Bowling Green plays NIU today. feb 20 Buffalo destroyed ohio 114-62  and Bowling Green survived akron  keeping both teams tied at 11-2 in the East.  #ShawnRoundtree had 20 points as Central Michigan(7-6) beat Kent State 84-74 to move within a game of Toledo(8-5) ,who fell to EMU, in the West. feb 23 Bowling Green(11-3-MAC) played poorly and still took the game to OT at Ohio (4-10)  before losing, while Buffalo(12-2) cruised over Kent St(8-6) to take a one game lead in the East. Nick Perkins put up some nice numbers for Buffalo :27 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST.  feb 27 Buffalo(13-2) got a battle from akron but  won 77-64 to take a two game lead in the East  over  fading Bowling Green (11-4)who lost to Miami O . Marreon Jackson scored 19 points  for  Toledo(10-5) in an 80-72 win over Ball St.  that keeps them one game up in the West on CMU(9-6) , a winner over EMU.  March 2 #bowlinggreen (12-4) found a way to win again with a 77-72 win over Kent St which keeps them two game behind Buffalo(14-2) who beat Miami O. Both teams will get rd1 byes in the MACT in Cleveland . Toledo (10-5) and  CMU (10-6 ) are the  strongest candidates for the other two byes. MAC season has 18 games. March 6 A solid game from Jeremy Harris(20 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST)helped Buffalo(15-2) eke out a win over Ohio while Bowling Green(12-5) got trounced by Akron. Toledo(12-5) beat WMU to lock up the West. The final bye slot is p for grabs between Kent St (10-7) and CMU & WMU each 9-8. march 16 Bowling Green stumbled through February but hung on to beat  NIU 71-67 and move on to face Buffalo, who struggled to to beat CMU last night, in the MACT final. March 19 Buffalo hasn't looked dominant  in MAC play in the last few weeks and I have some doubts they'll get by the winner of the ASU/St john's play in game. BTW, Bobby Hurley, the ASU coach and former Buffalo coach, recruited some of those Buffalo players. March 28 And #Buffalo loses another head coach. Oats accepted the job at Alabama  April 7 #Ohio has some lofty expectations : Saul Phillips is out at Ohio after five seasons. He came to the Bobcats after taking North Dakota State into the Round of 32 in 2014  The Bobcats had back-to-back 20-win seasons in Phillips’ second and third season, reaching the CBI in 2016. His replacement ,Jeff Boals, was the head coach Stony Brook and a former team captain of Ohio's 1994 NCAA tournament squad.