1) Banana Slugs – University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) (a giant bright yellow, slimy, shell-less mollusk commonly found on the redwood forest floor; the world’s second largest slug)
2) Geo Ducks – Evergreen State College, Olympia Washington (a giant fast mud-burrowing bivalve mollusk clam on the Northwest coast)
3) Chanticleers – University of Coastal Carolina (a fighting rooster)
4) Anteaters – University of California Irvine
5) Wheat Shockers – Wichita State University, Kansas (person or thing that shocks wheat)
6) Horned Frogs – Texas Christian University, Dallas, Texas (the Texas horned lizard or frog with rounded spike body and blunt snout)
7) Razorbacks – University of Arkansas (wild half- pig, boar with high narrow ridged back)
8) Fighting Pickles – North Carolina College of the Arts
9) Billikens – St. Louis University (elephant-like with pointed ears, a mischievous smile and a tuft of hair on his pointed head; “God of things as they ought to be”)
10) Buffaloes – University of Colorado, Boulder
11) Golden Griffins – Canisius College, New York (Greek mythological character- half lion, half eagle)
12) Salukis – Southern Illinois University (a fast running sighthound, similar to greyhound)
13) Fighting Camels – Campbell College, Texas
14) Ichabods – Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas (named after Washburn graduate, apprentice to captain of industry, Congregationalist, abolitionist and philanthropist)
15) Dust Devils – Texas A&M International University (strong, visible, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind; mini tornado)
16) Boll Weevils – University of Arkansas Monticello (beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers; a serious nuisance to the agricultural industry)
19) Trolls, Trinity College, Illinois (a supernatural being, such as giants or dwarfs believed needed to give Trinity teams supernatural power)
20) Tar Heels, University of North Carolina (in colonial days, British observed if you waded in North Carolina rivers, you would get tar on your heels; came to mean anyone from North Carolina)
21) Mules & Jennies (men’s & women’s teams) – University of Central Missouri (a jenny is a female mule)
22) Hurricanes – University of Miami
23) Jayhawks – University of Kansas (a big blue bird with a red head and yellow beak; means a predatory attack)
24) Sasquatch – Community College of Spokane, Washington (cryptid simian-, ape-, hominid-, or Hominin-like creature; bigfoot)
25) Artichokes – Scottsdale Community College, Arizona
26) Venoms – Florida A&M University
27) Grizzlies – University of Montana
28) Kangaroos – Austin College, Texas
29) Crimson Tide – University of Alabama (Thin Red Line and Crimson White uniforms; phrase invented to define the dazzling defense)
30) Lumberjacks – University of Northern Arizona
31) Waves – University of Pepperdine, southern California
32) Hilltoppers – Western Kentucky University (the WKU campus is located on top of a hill)
33) Gorillas – Pittsburgh State, Kansas
34) Eutectics – St. Louis College of Pharmacy (a scientist responsible for mixing an alloy or solution to the lowest melting point possible)
35) Gamecocks – South Carolina University/ Jackson State University (type of rooster, game fowl, chicken with traits suitable for cockfighting)
36) Cyclones – Iowa State University
37) Scroties – University of Rhode Island School of Design (say no more)
38) Wahine / Rainbow Warriors – University of Hawaii (Wahine means a Polynesian goddess or young woman surfer)
39) The Poets – Whittier College, California
40) Cobbers – Concordia College, Minnesota (Yiddish, a cobber is a friend; now a personified corncob)
– Lobos – University of New Mexico (a southwestern U.S. and Mexico grey timber wolf)
– Ole El Gauchos – University of California Santa Barbara (a native cowboy of the South American pampas, usually of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry)
1) Nate Robinson from Seattle (Rainier Beach High); U. Washington; Drafted #21, Phoenix Suns; Current: Denver Nuggets
2) Quincy Pondexter from Fresno, CA; U. Washington; Drafted #26, OKC Thunder; Current: New Orleans Pelicans
3) Isaiah Thomas from Tacoma (S. Kent High, CT); U. Washington; Drafted #30, Sacramento Kings; Current: Boston Celtics
4) Tony Wroten from Seattle (Garfield High); U. Washington; Drafted #25, Memphis Grizzlies; Current: Philadelphia 76ers
5) Terrence Ross from Portland (Jefferson High); U. Washington; Drafted #8, Toronto Raptors; Current: Toronto Raptors
6) C. J. Wilcox from Pleasant Grove, UT; U. Washington; Drafted #28, L.A. Clippers; Current LA Clippers
7) Spencer Hawes from Seattle (Seattle Prep); U. Washington; Drafted #10, Sacramento Kings; Current: LA Clippers
8) Justin Holiday; U. Washington; Current: Golden State Warriors
Others from Seattle Area:
7) Jamal Crawford from Seattle (Rainier Beach High); U. Michigan; Drafted #8, Cleveland Cavs; Current: LA Clippers. Other links: basketball reference.
8) Rodney Stuckey from Kent WA (Kentwood High); E. Washington U.; Drafted #15, Detroit Pistons; Current: Indiana Pacers. Other links: basketball reference
9) Jason Terry from Seattle (Franklin High); U. Arizona: Drafted #10, Atlanta Hawks; Current: Houston Rockets. Other links: basketball reference.
10) Aaron Brooks from Seattle (Franklin High); U. Oregon; Drafted #26, Houston Rockets; Current: Chicago Bulls. Other links: basketball references.
11) Martell Webster from Seattle (Seattle Prep); U. Washington; Drafted #6 Portland Trailblazers; Current: Washington Wizards
12) Marvin Williams from Bremerton (Bremerton High); U. N. Carolina; Drafted #2, Atlanta Hawks; Current: Charlotte Hornets
13) Terrence Williams from Seattle (Rainier Beach High); U. Louisville; Drafted #11, New Jersey Nets; Current: D-League
14) Peyton Siva from Seattle (Franklin High); U. Louisville; Drafted #56, Detroit Pistons; Current: D-League; Basketball reference
Tyler Harvey was the only basketball with a Pacific Northwest connection who was drafted in the NBA. He was taken 51st in the second round by the Orlando Magic. Harvey was a shooting guard for Eastern Washington University, which makes him the second Eastern Washington player to be drafted in the NBA, preceded by Rodney Stuckey (see previous blog entry). As a college player, he averaged over 21 points per game in each of his previous two seasons.
I wrote this article, which was eventually published in the Seattle Times – With a possible Final 4 appearance looming large this weekend for the small Jesuit university of the Pacific Northwest, Gonzaga University and Mark Few, the university’s men’s basketball head coach, are the ideal ambassadors of the Pacific Northwest, symbolizing all that is good about the people of this region.
Few has always been more interested in his fly fishing outdoor quality of life than the fanfare. In a post game ESPN interview he says he is more interested in just hanging out with the supporters and playing basketball with the players he dearly loves and cares about.
And what will Few do after all is said and done? Elite 8 is good enough, a Final 4 appearance good too, and a national title would be just fine. But Few will not be lured by the glitz of the national basketball notoriety.
He will go back to the rivers and lakes of the Pacific Northwest, reflect on the joys of this year’s journey, tuck it away under a river rock somewhere. And this time perhaps, he will bring along a few young Canadians, an eastern European or two, city boys from Seattle and southern California, a rural kid from Idaho, and a lanky twittering Portland wonderboy. Sure, he mentored them on important things of life on the wooden turf, but this next lesson, “the four-count rhythm, the hope that a fish will rise” as described by Montana’s favorite son Norman MacLean, brings the life long lesson of the Spirit. It’s no accident that Few and MacLean were both sons of Pacific Northwest Presbyterian ministers and sons of the Rivers, which MacLean says are nearly indistinguishable.
And after confetti falls, the hype recedes, these Gonzaga boys will hold that in their heart and soul, and see that “all things eventually do merge into one and a river runs through it;” because Mark Few is first and foremost just another glorious fisherman, and fisher of men.
As edited and published in the Seattle Times, Sunday, April 12, 2015 (to expand to full size view, click on news image below):
MARK FEW – Ideal Ambassador for the Pacific Northwest & Fly Fisherman
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