Tightly contested race that came down to the wire last week, as Darqueze Dennard squeezed out the victory, 34-33 over TyQuan Hammock with Denzel Drone coming in a close third with 28 votes. Tough loss for Hammock and Drone - congrats to Darqueze, who should be a name force to be reckoned with for years to come.
Deep name class for IU, even with the graduation of Jammie Kirlew - notably, I'm not putting in his presumed brother Jerrell Kirlew out of respect.. Honorable mentions include wide receiver Duwyce Wilson, cornerback Lenyatta Kiles, safety Jarrell Drane, and wide receiver Jamonne Chester. And those are our honorable mentions! Christo.
Let's hit the jump for those names.
No. 13, Kofi Hughes: Yo, your last name is Hughes. Don't name your kid Kofi. He's not going to be a world leader any day. I don't have anything funny to say, that's just truth.
Kofi is head of the United Nations a true freshman playing as a backup wideout - he has five receptions on the year for 25 yards - oddly enough, all of them in Big Ten play, including three catches against Ohio State.
No. 35, Shaquille Johnson: Yeah, I know it was cool to name your kid Shaquille in like, 1991. But here's the thing: I'm not sure how I caught this, but looking on his bio, I saw that Shaq's brother, Jamario O'Neal, played safety for Ohio State. So there's one brother, whose last name is O'Neal, and one whose first name is Shaquille? That's just impressive.
Shaq is a freshman and is redshirting.
No. 52, Marlandez Harris: Bro, here's where the names get great. Marlandez? Marlandez! I see the roots of some actual names in here: Marlon, Orlando... um... Hernandez, which is a last name, but, still. But Marlandez? It's an awesome mashup of four names that don't really belong together. All I can picture is Marlon Brando in the Godfather speaking in a thick Hispanic accent.
Marlandez is a freshman defensive lineman who is redshirting.
THE INCUMBENT
No. 88, Damarlo Belcher: t's like you took this guy and this guy (who I played in high school, btdubs), but just made their respectively names better. Damarlo Belcher. Ahhh, yes. Works perfectly. Also, his last name is Belcher. Word on whether he is related to former Royals releiver Tim Belcher is not in yet. Oh, wait, they're totally not related.
Damarlo is Indiana's number one wide receiver, which is kind of a big deal on a team dominated by its pass attack - he has 569 yards receiving, including 100+-yard outings against Western Kentucky and Arkansas State.
and my pick for name of the week...
No. 55, Deonte Mack: YEAHHHHH. I wish my last name was Mack. I wouldn't have applied to college, I would've just spent my entire life making blaxploitation movies about myself, even if I was a white dude, and I would've stuck it to the man and figured out how to win over my woman but also keep her in check, and I would've never ever kowtowed to the machine or listened to those who told me I was doing it wrong and I would've proved that the cops were actually the bad guys because thats the way it is in this messed-up world we live in where the morality of the streets beats the morality of Wall Street and DAMMIT I WISH MY NAME WAS DEONTE MACK. And his first name is Deonte! Deonte Mack! Damn.
Deonte's a senior defensive end - he only has three tackles on the season, though, as he hasn't played much.